Somebody To Love
by Sierra Willowgem
Summary: She is a nine-year old girl living in a children's home, and has been abused so much so that she doesn't trust another human. But then Randy Orton comes along. Will he be able to save her from the dark hole she's fallen into? **CONTAINS CHILD ABUSE**
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One.**

A young girl sat on one of the plastic chairs, and sighed. Just another celebrity appearance for Safe Haven Childrens House. All they did was show up, sign some autographs, and leave. Really, the only reason they came was because they needed to uphold their stupid reputation.

Everyone settled down, and silence came over the room. The head of the house, James Franklin, started to talk about what an honour it was to have the WWE Superstars at Safe Haven Childrens House. The girl hunched her back and folded her arms over her chest. All the kids were made to come and at least see the Superstars, as the staff thought it was rude if they didn't. There was a ruptious applause as the Superstars entered the room. The girl kept her head down, making eye contact with no-one. All the other kids jumped up and down, and ran towards the big men. She stayed where she was.

Randy Orton watched in amusement as 30 or so little kids ran towards him. His arms opened for hugs and autographs. They jumped up and down and squealed. He chuckled and looked over at his friend, John Cena, who was also being swarmed. He winked at Randy and opened his arms as well. When each child came up to him, Randy made sure that he had a short conversation and a hug with all of them. Children's homes were something that really touched his heart. They were denied the innocence of their childhood and all they wanted was some love, and Randy was going to give it to them.

His eyes wondered away from the children for just a second when he noticed a skinny, mousy haired girl sitting on a chair, at some distance away from the others. She didn't seem interested in the activities that were going on in this room. Heck, she didn't seem interested in anything. Her head was bent down, and she looked extremely tense. She only looked about seven years old. Randy frowned. He didn't like to see anyone unhappy, especially girls. He couldn't see her face under the mess of her hair, but with the way her body was positioned, he could tell she was _very _unhappy. Something drew him to that girl in that moment. Subconsciously, he made a promise that he would do whatever it took to make her happy.

Randy made his way over to James Franklin, hoping that he'd know who the girl was. Some kids followed him over, making Randy smile. Mr. Franklin was talking to Adam 'Edge' Copeland next to the makeshift stage. Randy studied him. James Franklin was a very large man, with a chin wobblier than jelly. He had tiny little spectacles that sat on the edge of his nose, giving him a stern look. When he laughed, it was booming and hearty, and it made everyone who was around him at ease. The way he stood made it seem as if you were two feet tall, though he couldn't be far off five. Randy stepped forward.

"Sorry to interrupt, Adam and Mr Franklin." Randy started. "But I wanted to ask you something."

When Adam didn't move, Randy added, "In private."

Adam got the hint and walked away.

Mr Franklin turned towards Randy and smiled. "So, you wanted to talk about something, son?"

"Yeah, Mr Franklin-"

"Please, call me James."

Randy smiled again. "Alright, James. I just wanted to know who that young girl is." He pointed towards the girl. She hadn't changed her position. At all.

James followed Randy's gaze and smiled sadly. "That, Mr Orton, is Gracie Ordenes. This is mainly an orphanage, though we do have some abused children placed here. She is one of the few, though it is safe to say that she is by far the most traumatized. In all the two years she's been here, I've never seen her talk. The only way she communicates is through her writing and her drawing."

He paused.

"The most we know about her is her name, age, that she has an incredible ability to write and draw, and that someone called 'Alex' haunts her past. She's so traumatized by her past that she feels as though she can't trust another human being."

That last sentence tugged at Randy's heartstrings. "Can I try and talk to her?"

James hesitated, then nodded. "Sure, why not? It's worth the try."

That was as much approval as Randy needed. Within seconds, he was walking over to her, away from the swarm. Again, some kids followed him, but when they saw he was approaching Gracie, they walked away. Randy wondered why.

When Randy reached her, she didn't acknowledge him. He sort of expected this. Instead, he pulled a chair up next to her and they both sat in silence. Her muscles tensed and her breathing increased. She looked like she was getting ready to leave. Now or never, thought Randy.

Randy reached over and grazed her arm, for just a second. He removed his hand. She startled a little bit, but didn't move. He reached over again, grazed her arm for a little longer, and removed his hand. He reached over, grazed her arm a little longer, and removed his hand again. He repeated this process for about two minutes, until his hand was gently squeezing her forearm. He saw her muscles relax. This was a sign. Now for plan number two.

He knelt down in front of her, with his arm still resting on hers. He tried to make his expression as gentle as possible.

"Hi Gracie." he murmured. She didn't respond so he continued. "James told me about you. He said you like to draw." Randy paused. "I like to draw too, baby girl."

Her eyes flickered up for a second at the mention of drawing. For the first time, Randy looked at her. Gracie had big hazel eyes that perfectly complimented her hair. She had a slight tan which was all natural. Her bones stuck out of her cheeks and penetrated her skin. Though she was questionably skinny, she was undoubtedly beautiful. Gracie's eyes lowered as soon as she made eye contact with Randy.

When Gracie made that eye contact, Randy smiled softly. Though he was happy that he had made a 'start' with her, he was very concerned at the lack of life he saw in those eyes. No zest, no energy, no personality. Nothing.

An intense half hour followed the eye contact. Randy told her about himself, but she didn't look up again. While Randy blabbed, his mind was on other things. All he wanted to do was lean over and hug the little girl, but Randy was scared that she'd reject him.

"Now children, we've had a great time with the WWE Superstars, but it's time for them to go."

He had run out of time. Randy was devastated. Cursing himself, he mumbled a goodbye to Gracie before getting up to leave. Suddenly and surprisingly, he felt a tug on his forearm. Randy looked back down, and saw Gracie looking up expectantly at him. Before he could speak, she shoved a piece of paper into his hand.

"What's this?" he smiled.

Gracie narrowed her eyes. "It's my address. So you can write to me, and I can write to you. You can show me your drawings as well. You can tell me more about you. I can tell you about me. We'll be pen-pals. If you want to." She rushed, hesitation evident in her scratchy voice.

Randy was jumping up and down with glee, inside of course. For a second he wondered why her voice was so husky, then he realised that this was a girl who hadn't spoken in two years.

"Of course I want to." Randy said. "I'd love to."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

_Dear Gracie,_

_Hello again. :) I am so happy that you decided we could become pen-pals. I've never had a pen-pal before so I don't really know what to say. I told you about myself when we met. I guess I'll go into more detail now. My favourite colours are blue, white and red. When I was little I wanted to be a fire-fighter. I prefer dogs over cats. My favourite food is grilled cheese with ham. Yum. When I was at school my favourite subject was creative-writing in English. I am scared, no, terrified, of spiders. Yes, that's right, a big, tough-looking wrestler is scared of something as small as spiders. Even thinking of them gives me goose-bumps._

_So what are some of your favourite things? What are you scared of? Maybe you could send me some of your drawings, and I'll send some of mine :)_

_Hope to hear from you soon._

_From, Randy_

_xx._

Gracie sat on the edge of her bed, and read the letter, over and over again. How on earth was she going to reply? She had spent the last four years avoiding people so that this exact situation wouldn't happen. Gracie cursed herself and scowled.

Yet when Randy Orton had come up to her, she had given into temptation and let her guard down. Let someone in. Her experience with other humans were not very good, with the exception of one. One person who had changed all that was known to her. _That one..._

Gracie's throat tightened. Tears threatened to fall out, but she kept them in. She shut her eyes, and thought of _him_. She missed him so much, it was a physical pain in her heart. Her lower lip trembled. Her breathing sped up. Gracie opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred by tears. She blinked them back, and pursed her lips. She got up and walked over to her wooden desk. It was filled with paper, watercolours, paint, paint-brushes, pencils, textas and virtually every other drawing utensil known to man. Gracie quickly located what she needed and started to write...

_Dear Randy..._

….

Randy Orton sat in his lounge room, watching a movie with his best friend John Cena. It was a rare day when both of them had the day off, so they were going to make the most of it. The shoes were off, the barbeque was on, and the beers were open.

"Do you think she'll write back?" asked Randy. He had filled his friend in on the situation.

"For your sake, I hope she does." replied John "You haven't been the same since we left that place."

Randy laid back, hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and sighed. Doubt began to fill mind. This was a girl who had no trust in other humans at all, so much so that she hadn't talked to anyone in four years. Why would she reply to Randy? She had no reason to. But on the other hand, he was the one who had broken that no-talking streak. Maybe he had made a good first impression. Maybe he had been gentle enough with her that she had decided to open up a little. Maybe...

An errant thought ran through his mind. Randy hadn't checked his mailbox yet. Ignoring his friends inquiries about where he was going, Randy got up and wondered outside. When he got to the mailbox, he reached inside. Surely enough, there were a number of letters awaiting him. Randy shuffled through them, impatient. His eyes picked out an orange envelope at the back. He ripped it open and glanced at the wording. At the end he found what he was looking for.

_From, Gracie._

Randy started to jump up and down with excitement. He even screamed a little. Wondering what was going on, John wondered outside, only to be greeted with an ecstatic Randy.

"She did it! She wrote back!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

_Dear Randy,_

_I hope you are well. I am fine. I've never had a pen-pal either. Before we start, you must know something. My name isn't really Gracie but its actually my nickname. Everyone calls me that and I never bothered to correct them, so it stuck. You didn't get to here about me when we met so I'll give you a little fact sheet now. ABOUT ME:_

_Full Name: Abigail Grace Ordenes_

_DOB: 26th September_

_Favourite Colours: green, blue and black_

_When I was little I wanted to be: an artist_

_I prefer dogs over cats as well._

_Favourite food: I don't have a favourite food, really. I don't eat much._

_My favourite subject: art_

_Scared of: Alex_

_Some of my drawings are enclosed in this envelope. Can you send me some of yours when you write next? I wanna see how you draw. By the way, my email is _, so you can add me on MSN. We can talk on there too._

_I gotta go now. Hope I didn't bore you to death._

_From, Gracie._

_Who is Alex?_ Randy thought. He was in his locker room for Monday Night Raw. Gracie seemed to be absoloutely terrified of him. Suddenly, Randy remembered what James had told him, _'someone called Alex haunts her past'_. Randy narrowed his eyes. It sounded like this Alex guy had hurt her in some way. _Lord keep him away from wherever go,_ Randy thought, _because if I ever find him, he won't live to see his next birthday._

Randy eyed the drawings Gracie had sent him as he prepared for his match. James was right. Gracie really did have an incredible ability to draw. She had sent Randy two drawings. The first was a picture of the night sky. The moon and all the stars had faces. There was a black star in the bottom-right-hand corner and it had a sad face. It was set apart from the rest of the stars, who had happy faces. The caption read, _there is always one_.

The second drawing was of an orang-utan. It was sitting in the corner of a cage with empty eyes. Its neck held a chain, which connected to his hands and feet. Its hair was matted and dirty. The food bowl was empty, except for a few crumbs. He looked really miserable. The caption read, _trapped._

"You ready, Randy?"

Randy looked towards the source of the voice. John was standing at the door, ready in his wrestling gear. He and Randy had a match that night. Seeing Randy distracted, John followed his gaze, and gaped.

"Are those her drawings?"

Randy nodded. "She's good isn't she?"

"Amazing." John breathed. He shook his head. "We should probably go to the gorilla now, Randy. In five minutes Tony's gonna announce us."

Stealing one last glance at the drawings, Randy replied, "Sure."

John's forehead wrinkled as Randy set the drawings down and made his way out of the door. Randy wasn't focused. "Dude snap out of it."

Randy shifted his gaze from the floor to John. "Snap out of what?"

John gave him a look. "Listen, man. What your doing for Gracie is really good, don't get me wrong, but put your head back into wrestling mode. Focus on kicking the shit out of me tonight, alright, and not Gracie. And if she's on your mind that much, use her as motivation."

Randy nodded, knowing that John mean well. But his mind was still on Gracie. He wondered what she was doing right now. Thinking back to Gracie, that brought up a forgotten question,

_Who was Alex?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four.**

"_You're dirty, stinky, bad and I wish I never had you."_

_The words rang through Gracie's head like church bells. Her back was stinging from the blows she was receiving. She didn't know how long her mother's outrage had lasted this time. But it was long enough that it hurt. Though, she thought, it always hurt, every time. Her mother dragged her down the stairs by her hair, her bottom loudly thudding every time it made contact with the hard, wooden steps._

"_We're going to make you clean now."_

_Gracie sobbed even harder, knowing full-well what her mother meant._

"_No Mommy, please don't"_

_Ignoring Gracie, her mother got the tin bucket out, the one her Daddy used to wash the car with. She filled it with soapy water, and got the metal pot-scrubber out._

"_Get in." She ordered. Gracie was too scared to do or say anything so she just stood next to the tin bucket, sobbing._

"_GET IN!" Without waiting for a response, her mother grabbed her by her hair and threw Gracie into the tin bucket. She then proceeded to scrub the metal pot-scrubber over the already-existent bruises. They immediately began to bleed. Her mother's hand worked like a tornado over Gracie's body, leaving a devastating path of destruction in it's wake._

_All she felt now was the raw, exposed patches of skin numbing._

_And nothing else._

Gracie woke up screaming. She was sweating in her pyjamas. She re-lived these horrors every night, and every time, she woke up hoping that there was someone waiting for her, someone to hug her and assure her that everything was going to be alright. But no-one ever was.

Still sobbing, Gracie got out of bed and sat at her desk, rummaging through her pile of papers. She needed comfort from the item that meant so much to her. Gracie's hand searched for something small, flat and rectangular. She found what she was looking for and sobbed even harder when she saw who was in the photograph. _Daddy and me,_ shouted the caption, which was written in her five-year old scribbly writing. It was taken when she and her dad were at the beach. They were hand-in-hand and facing away from the camera. It was taken when Gracie was in her 'happy' period.

But that time was long gone now. And all she had now was memories.

….

Half-way across the country, Randy was back in his locker-room. His match with John had not gone well, and Vince hadn't been pleased. And now, Randy was frustrated with himself. He racked his brains, trying to find someone or something to blame. Of course, he wondered back to Gracie. What was she doing at the moment? Did she miss Randy? When would be the next time he got to see her? An idea popped into his head. He could go see her tomorrow. Between now and the next house show, Randy had a three days to himself. Plenty of time to go and see her.

He showered, got dressed and packed everything away, taking one last look at her drawings. On his way out, Randy stopped at John's locker room. After telling him where he was going, John murmured, "It's for the best." Randy shrugged it off, not understanding what his best friend meant.

A few hours, a long plane ride, and a couple of coffees later, Randy was walking up the porch to Safe Haven's, for the second time in that week. It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and he hoped Gracie still 'liked' him, or something to that extent. Randy paused and took a deep breath, then pushed the door open. He walked up to the pretty receptionist and asked to see James Franklin.  
"One moment, please." She smiled. She turned around and walked through a door behind the desk, leaving Randy standing there. A few minutes later, she returned with James, as promised. James wasn't wearing a tux, as he was the last time Randy saw him, but instead he was wearing a red and white striped polo shirt with white, knee-length shorts. He honestly looked like he was ready to step out onto the green and play a good hour of golf. Randy grinned at the sight.

James grinned as well and shook Randy's hand. "Randy, man. We don't get second visits from celebrities too often. How may I help you?"

"I'm here to see Gracie again." He said.

James' lips twisted ever so slightly. "I'm sorry. I can't let you see her."

Randy's eyes widened. "And why the hell not?" He said angrily.

James stayed calm. "Because I don't want you to get attached to her, and vice versa. Gracie has been to hell and back, all the while walking on hot coals. If I allow you to see her, then she will see you as a permanent figure in her life. Then if you decide to walk out, she'll have the overwhelming feeling of rejection, to add to the depression she already has. She'll fall deeper into the hole that we've been trying to get her out of for two years." He said calmly and sympathetically.

Randy bowed his head and nodded. He could understand where James was coming from. "But James, please just let me see her. I know she wants to see me. And I sure as hell do too. You told me yourself that she hadn't talked in two years, and yet she talked to me and told me she wanted to keep in contact with me. So isn't that a sign that she's finally beginning to open up? And who did Gracie open up to? Me_. _Not to you or to anybody else. _Me_. Please just let me see her." Randy pleaded.

James smiled at the young man's determination. "I'll stand by my decision." He paused, and Randy felt his heart plummet. "But, since I am a good man, I'll tell you what. We'll bring Gracie out here, and based on her reaction, I'll decide whether you will see her again, or not."

James turned towards the receptionist, who was watching her boss. "Kristy, love, will you go and get little Gracie for us?"

Kristy smiled at both James and Randy, then rushed off down one of the corridors.

There was an awkward silence between to two men. Randy could feel James' eyes on him, studying him. He shuffled his feet restlessly. Where were they? Five minutes later, Randy heard some high heels clicking on the wooden floor. He looked up and saw Kristy coming down the hallway where she'd disappeared. A little girl, Gracie, followed her. She kept her head down so she hadn't seen Randy yet. A smile played on Randy's lips and his heart filled with adoration. _Please, please please let her have the right reaction,_he thought. When Kristy and Gracie finally reached the end of the corridor, the little girl still hadn't seen Randy. James cleared his throat.

"Gracie, there's someone here to see you." She didn't look up.

Randy knew her well enough that she was never going to look up and see him, so he got down on his knees, to her height, and waited patiently for her to lift her eyes and see him. Her eyes flickered at the sign of movement. She looked up and met Randy's eager eyes.

At first her expression didn't change. Randy felt his heart plummet even further. But then he noticed that she held the eye contact. He watched her closely. "Gracie?"

Something in her eyes changed in that moment. There was still the emptyness, but if you looked closely enough, there was also a little, tiny flicker of hope. Randy smiled at his observation.

Before he could see it coming, Gracie threw herself on him, hugging him so tightly he wondered how on earth he was still breathing. She buried her head in the hollow of his neck. Randy grinned and stood up, carrying Gracie with him. He turned towards James, who looked... shocked, to say the least.

"So...? Can I keep seeing her then?" Randy asked.

James smiled and looked at Gracie, who was clinging to Randy like a baby. "Of course you can."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

Gracie sat at her desk fiddling with her fingers. She sighed and leaned on her elbow. Right now she was in deep thought. Randy hadn't replied to her letter yet. Why was she even worrying though? _Stupid girl_, she thought to herself. Randy was never going to reply back. _Of course he's not gonna reply,_ thought Gracie. _He's too famous for someone like me. Forget other sides of the world, we come from completely opposite ends of the universe. Hell, I'll bet that he's probably forgotten about me by now._

The last thought made her even sadder. Lord knows she'd been through that before. Gracie decided that she didn't need to think about that anymore. She knew only one thing, apart from her beloved photo, that would comfort her. Gracie stood up and walked over to her closet. She gingerly opened it. She didn't have to search the near-empty piece of furniture for long until she found what she was looking for; her acoustic guitar. Gracie sat on her small bed and started drumming it gently. She thought about all the memories that came flooding with the instrument.

"_Happy 6__th__ Birthday baby girl!" The little girl's daddy exclaimed, running into her room and plopping himself on the bed._

"_Thank you Daddy!" Gracie said, sitting up in bed, grinning._

"_Now, I realise that it's only 7:00am, but I really, really want you to open this right now." Daddy said. "My flight leaves at midday."_

_Gracie's smile faded a little. She threw herself on him and buried her neck in the hollow of his neck. "But Daddy, I don't want you to go back."_

_He felt his eyes moisten as he cradled his daughter in his strong arms. "Baby, I have to go. The Government wants me back."_

_She lowered her eyes and fiddled with her fingers in her lap. She mumbled, "Mmkay."_

_Daddy tried to cheer her up. "Hey let's not spend the day sulking. It's your 6__th__ Birthday! Your a big girl now!"_

_She looked up and also tried to look cheerful. "Yeah I know. Soon I'll have my own car."_

_Daddy chuckled. "Not just yet, baby." He shook his head. "I'm gonna go and get your present." He kissed her forehead. "Be right back, pumpkin." He walked out of her room and returned almost instantly with a giant rectangular box wrapped in periwinkle blue paper. Gracie's eyes widened at the sight. Daddy passed it to her, and kissed her hair, mumbling "Happy Birthday."_

_She grinned a thank-you and proceeded to open it. She ripped the blue paper carelessly and tossed it off her bed. Once gone, the contents underneath were revealed. It was a beautiful brown acoustic guitar. Her eyes widened in shock and gratefulness. She-_

"Gracie, someone's here to see you." A woman's voice tore her out of her flashback.

The little girl didn't look up, but just simply nodded.

"I'll wait for you outside." said the voice, who Gracie identified as Miss Kristy, the front receptionist. Though she was perfectly kind, Gracie had never liked the older woman. _I guess I just have a problem with trusting older women_, she thought. She lifted the guitar off her lap and gently placed it on her bed. She stood up and walked out, closing the door behind her. Gracie let Miss Kristy walk ahead of her. The young girl kept her head down and folded her arms over her chest, self-conscious of strangers passing her.

When they finally reached the foyer, Gracie has sensed that someone was watching her but she didn't dare look up. She had learnt her lesson from doing that.

Someone cleared their throat. "Gracie, someone's here to see you."

She knew that voice. That was James' voice, the old nice man that ran the home. She pondered on whether to look up. _Do I, or do I not? _There was a movement in front of her. Her eyes darted from side to side, her mind still deciding. Before she could stop herself, Gracie gave into temptation, looked up and met someone's eyes.

Blue eyes.

Big, blue, eager eyes.

Randy Orton's eyes.

A part of her wanted to jump up and down and scream with joy. That part wanted to reach over and hug him and make sure that Randy really was there. But the louder, more sensible voice in her head warned her not to react; it could be a trap. So she didn't. She couldn't stop looking at him though. She was scared that if she looked away, he would disappear.

His lips twitched. "Gracie?"

An intense 20 seconds followed that. Gracie remained cautious and still. Randy's eyes were friendly and inviting, not cold and distant. He offered a hopeful smile. Before she could stop herself again, Gracie lunged at the older man and squeezed Randy tightly, unwilling to let him go. She felt oddly safe cradled in his arms, something she hadn't felt in years. Pressing her forehead up against his neck, the little girl felt Randy smile. Gracie felt herself relax a little. Her heart fluttered with nerves when he picked her up effortlessly. Her hazel orbs widened with panic. But again, Gracie didn't say anything.

After speaking some words to James and asking Miss Kristy where her room was, Randy walked down the cold hallway towards Gracie's room, still carrying her. He walked into the small room, set her on her feet and turned around to shut the door. Gracie had not calmed down. She was scared of what was coming next. Her jaw started to tremble, her heartbeat sped up and tears filled her small eyes. The world started spinning. Since her back was facing Randy, he hadn't seen her have the panic attack. He leaned against the frame of her bed and waited for the little girl to turn around. "Gracie, baby, can you turn around for me?"

Very slowly, Gracie turned around. She whimpered at the sight in front of her. She plopped down on the floor, brought her knees up to her chest and started rocking, whimpering. Concern immediately laced Randy's handsome features. He sat down on the wooden floor next to her, trying to comfort the little girl without scaring her to death. Randy apologised. "I'm sorry Gracie, did I frighten you?"

She shook her head no, still living the panic attack. Gracie continued rocking, trying to comfort herself. Randy tried to put his arm around her, but she kept shaking it off. Eventually Gracie gave in and allowed herself to be cradled by the older man. He rocked with her, rubbing the small of her back, soothing and eventually calming her. Gracie wiped her eyes even though there were no tears. She looked up at Randy, who smiled carefully.

Her eye's trailed down guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay baby. Just so you know, I'm never, _ever _going to hurt you." Randy promised, still holding Gracie in his arms.

She nodded. "Okay." Her voice was barely audible. "It's just that, smiling men next to beds are never a good thing."

Randy's jaw dropped. He didn't know how to react. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. _How do you react to something like that? _Randy loosened his grip on the young girl and looked at her.

"Baby, how...' Randy struggled to find the right words. 'how do you know about... smiling men next to beds?"

Gracie simply sat there and shook her head. He felt a pang of frustration. What was he going to have to do to get this girl to open up?

He stood up, not knowing what else to do, and offered his hand to her. Gracie chewed on her bottom lip with hesitation and shrugged, grabbing his hand. Randy pulled her up and brought her in for a hug. She hugged him back, or something to that extent. She cuddled him like he was a bubble, gentle and fragile, as if he would burst any second. Randy stroked the top of her dirty blonde hair. He realised how small she was when he cupped almost the entire top of her head with just one hand.

He gently lead her to the bed, where he plopped down and sat cross-legged, and patted the on space opposite him for her to join him. The nine year-old hesitated and sat down on the mattress, careful not to make any creases. She folded her legs and looked down at her hands in her lap, stealing glances at his baby blue eyes every so often. Randy smiled.

"So Gracie. Tell me about yourself." 

….

Exactly three days later, Randy was walking down one of Safe Haven's many hallways, which he had become so familiar with. The last few days he had spent here, was spent with Gracie. Though the nine year-old was still hesitant and bashfully shy, thanks to Randy, she was beginning to let her guard down a little. The two never talked about anything too personal; that would come in good time. Instead they bonded by playing board games (Randy always let Gracie win), taking pictures together, drawing cartoons (which Randy failed miserably in, his drawings always somehow ended up looking like a messed up tornado) or even just sitting there in the silence, Gracie resting comfortably in his lap leaning on his muscular chest, with his arms protectively around her shoulders.

Today's visit there would be no bonding. Today was Randy's last day in the city; tomorrow he would have to go back to work. Back to his normal life. Life without his baby girl. His stomach twisted at the thought of not having Gracie in his daily life. An overwhelming feeling of guilt followed.  
Finally reaching her room, he knocked on the door. No response. Randy knew her well enough that that meant 'come in'. Though he had only known Gracie for two weeks now, he knew he wanted her as a daughter. He opened the door and saw Gracie sitting on her bed, drumming her guitar. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Not saying anything, Randy entered the room slowly, and sat himself on the bed. As soon as his skin came into contact with the doona, Gracie had tossed her guitar aside and was hugging Randy's neck. He hugged her back, grateful to have her safely in his arms. They felt each other relax. Randy sighed. He would miss her embraces when he was back on the road.

_But maybe he didn't have to miss them._

_Maybe he could bring her on the road with him._

_Maybe he could..._

A little plan started to form in the back of his mind. Randy looked down at her. "Gracie?"

A frown formed on her pretty little face. _What?_

He sighed. "Baby I'm going back on the road tomorrow."

Her hazel eyes widened. _Why? Don't leave me!_

"But..." Randy took a deep breath. "How about you come on the road with me?" He watched her carefully.

"You mean... like... adopt me?" Her eyes widened even more. If that was possible. "You mean... you become... my dad?"

Randy swallowed hard. Panic flickered through his eyes. He had never considered the option of her saying no. He had always assumed that Gracie would say yes and they would both live happily ever after. Was she hesitating? "Yeah baby, I'd be your dad, and you'd be my daughter."

She jumped up from his lap and started backing away from the bed, arms raised in submission. "No... no... no..."

His world came plummeting down. A look of hurt instantly crossed his face. "Why?"

And for the first time since the day they met, Gracie looked Randy straight in the eye. "I don't want you to be my dad."

**A/N: I wanted to change something. In previous chapters I have said that Gracie has been at Safe Havens for 4 years. I realise now that she needs to be there for 2 years only. So to sum up, Gracie is 9 years old and has been at Safe Havens since she was 7. Sorry if I caused any confusion.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six.**

"I don't want you to be my dad." Gracie said, with her arms raised. _No, no, NO!_

Her eyes were wide and full of fear. Not fear of Randy, but fear of being rejected. She knew that the older man would never hurt her, even though she'd only known him for what, three days? Gracie had had enough heartbreak to last a life time. She needn't add to that. Randy reached out to hold her, knowing that she was going to cry. _I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to be weak. _It was like a mantra; one well-drilled into her head. Deciding that she couldn't stand to be in the same room as him, Gracie bolted out of the bedroom.

She ran as fast as her little legs would take her. Sensing Randy's hurried steps behind her, she lengthened her stride. Down one hall, down another, out into the garden and onto her favourite part of Safe Haven; the hammock. She crawled onto it, and started to cry.

Randy wasted no time in following his baby girl when she ran out of the room. He knew full well where she was going, so it didn't surprise him when she ran out to the garden and headed straight towards the hammock. That hammock. It was like a sanctuary to Gracie. When she was lying in it, and the wind was gently blowing it from side to side, Randy knew she felt safe and relaxed and at peace with the entire world. It was her thinking spot, her quite space. The weather out that night was very nice; a nice warm summer-like evening with a hint of wind blowing from the west. Some other kids were playing outside when Gracie and Randy came out, but most were starting to go inside, leaving the two alone.

Randy approached Gracie and the hammock with great caution. The last time he had tried to get anywhere near close to this somewhat sacred piece of outdoor furniture, Gracie had ushered him away. This time though, she didn't even acknowledge his presence. Her head was buried in her arms and the hammock was gently swaying back and forth, as if trying to comfort her. As he got closer, he began to hear her sobs and incoherent muttering. Randy blinked for a moment, realising that he'd never heard or Gracie cry before. Sure, she'd been on the verge of tears, many times actually, but she'd never actually let her emotions free like this. Usually she was very tough; now, her little frame was trembling with fear. That and her sobs were breaking Randy's heart. All he wanted to do was take her into her arms and stroke her hair until she felt better. So thats exactly what he did.

Gracie felt someone take her into their arms. She recognised Randy's cologne and she snuggled into his chest. He was stroking her hair, rocking with her in the hammock. He didn't try to persuade her into talking, which Gracie liked. Instead he just hugged her tightly. Her tears slowed down and eventually stopped, and was replaced by quiet sniffling. Randy seemed to be upset as well, his breathing uneven.

Seeing Gracie cry was something very emotional for Randy. She looked so vulnerable, so fragile. As a result, he started to tear up a little as well. As a heel on Raw, the WWE Universe never got to see Randy's real personality, which was caring, kind and loving. All they saw was an arrogant prick who punted people in the head. He heard her sobbing stop, which were replaced with soft whimpers. He tightened his grip on her. "Gracie, baby, why'd you run away before?"

She sighed. "I guess I... I don't know..."

He watched her carefully. "Yes, you do know, baby girl. Just tell me." His voice was gentle but firm. "You know I'd never hurt you."

He had seen right through her lie. "That's what they all say... and eventually they do hurt me... and they leave me..." She wasn't crying, but it was obvious she was going through a lot of mental pain.

Randy narrowed his eyes. "Hey, hey look at me." Gracie's hazel orbs flashed up to Randy's baby blue ones. "I promise I'll never, ever hurt you, and I most certainly will never, _ever _leave you."

Gracie could see the desperation in his eyes. But she could also see love. Raw, unconditional love. Something she'd always dreamed about, something she yearned to have, something she _used_ to have but was ripped out of her arms. "Promise?"

Randy grinned at the innocence in her voice. "You know what? I _pinky _promise." He offered his pinky to her.

Gracie's eyes shined with approval. She even smiled a little. She hooked her skinny little pinky with his overly muscled one. She shook her linking finger for good measure. "Okay."

Randy watched the little girl as she shook her hand a little. She looked... happy. He approached his question with caution. "Gracie... what did you mean when you said 'eventually they do hurt me... and they leave me...'?"

She chewed on her bottom lip. "Didn't Mr. Franklin or Miss Kristy tell you?"

Randy shook his head. "No..."

She took a deep breath. "...I've been at Safe Haven for two years. Safe Haven is an orphanage, you know. So people looking to adopt come here all the time." She swallowed. "Not many couples look at me, you know. I'm ugly, fat and I have a past." She hurried on before Randy could interrupt. "So it felt really good when someone looked at me, and, you know, wanted me to live with them. Some of them even took me to their homes, as a trial to see whether they could take care of me. I stayed there for the night, but by morning they decided... they didn't want me anymore."

Her voice was trembling. Randy asked in the gentlest tone he could muster, "Why, baby? Why didn't they want you when morning came?"

"I get nightmares, Randy. And not normal ones, either. I scream... and I cry... as loud as I can. I kick my bed and it feels like I'm throwing a tantrum. I sob like a baby all night long because all I want is for someone to cuddle me and tell me it's alright." Her voice was barely audible. "My screaming keeps them awake all night long. And they get mad. When morning came, they decided that they couldn't put up with that racket every night." She looked down and pouted. "So back to Safe Haven I went."

Randy looked at the nine year old with sympathy. Suddenly, something popped into his head. "Wait... Gracie when you said 'some of them'... does that mean... that what you just explained to me... has happened to you more than once?"

She nodded. "About five to six times actually."

Randy could only imagine what was going through her little head right now. No wonder she had run away when he told her he was going to adopt her. In her head, he was just another hopeful man who was going to wind up rejecting her like all the other couples had. She hadn't run away from Randy because she was scared of him. She had run away because she was scared she was going to be rejected again.

He looked back down at her. Gracie wasn't sobbing, but little tears of pain were rolling down her soft cheek. Randy brushed them away with his thumb. "Hey hey, don't cry baby girl, okay?"

She sniffed. "Yes Randy."

Hearing that tore his heart even more. "You don't have to be all obedient like I'm your master, okay? You're just as important as me and everyone else in this world. And for the record, you are most certainly neither fat or ugly. You're actually quite small for your age and as far as I'm concerned, you are the most beautiful nine year old girl I've ever met." She smiled softly. "And as for your past, well none of that is your fault. At all. It's the people who hurt you's fault. Why anyone would hurt or reject a wonderful, sweet girl like you, I have no idea."

Gracie seemed to consider this. "So... if I go on the road with you..." A smile started to form on Randy's lips. "...I'll never have to come back here again?"

"Nope."

"Ever?"

"Nope."

"Okay." She whispered.

Randy cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't quite catch that."

She looked back up at him. All tears were gone now. She smiled softly. "Okay... I'll come live with you."

…. 

Kristy brought the last of Gracie's two suitcases and left them at Randy and Gracie's feet. The nine year old was holding on tightly to Randy's hand. "Well that's the last of them. Her guitar's already in the car boot, Mr. Orton." The older woman said.

In the hour that had passed, Randy had walked Gracie back to her room and told her to pack everything up, while he went to James' office to finalize the adoption papers. Now, they were officially father and daughter.

"Thanks Kristy." Smiled Randy. He shook Gracie's hand. "Say thank-you and goodbye, baby girl."

Of course, Gracie kept her head down and didn't respond. Randy chuckled.

"Seems we still have a bit of work on our hands."

Randy offered his hand to James. Instead the older man pulled Randy into a bear hug. "Take good care of her, Randy."

He pulled away from the embrace and grinned. "Sure thing James." The two shook hands.

Randy picked up one of the suitcases with his free hand (Gracie was unwilling to let him go) and indicated for his daughter to pick up the other. She did so without looking up at the other two grown ups in the room. With that, Randy gave Kristy and James a parting nod and walked out of Safe Haven, hand-in-hand with his daughter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven.**

"May I see some ID, please?" Asked the security guard.

Randy nodded and pulled out his wallet, searching for a minute for his driver's license. He pulled the little card out and presented it to the security guard, who nodded with approval.

"Right through here, Mr Orton."

The burly man held the door open for Randy and Gracie, who was looking on with mild interest. Since they had left Safe Haven, they had made a brief stop at the hotel where Randy was staying at to collect his belongings, and they were straight off to the airport for their flight to Dallas, Texas, where the next house show was. After picking up their rental at Fort Worth, Randy didn't waste anytime in stopping at their hotel. In fact, all of Gracie's belongings from Safe Haven were still in the back of the rental. Randy was too excited to show off his new daughter to all of his extended family; the WWE locker room.

Gracie on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about meeting all of Randy's wrestler buddies. What if they only put on a nice act around her adopted father, and then beat her when he was gone? What if they turned out to be like Alex? She had no time to pepper him with her questions and concerns though, because they were on the move, weaving through the halls backstage, searching for their locker room. Occasionally they passed some other people, who Gracie could only assume were wrestlers. Randy only gave them a nod and continued walking, dragging her along. Some gave Gracie a friendly yet curious smile, while others (namely the Divas), just glared her down. Her thoughts wondered back to her worries. _What if they don't like me? What if I'm not good enough to be around Randy and he breaks his promise and sends me back to Safe Haven? What if- _Gracie was pulled out of her thoughts by Randy.

"Here we go, baby. This is the room for tonight."

She nodded, and followed Randy into the empty room. Nothing too fancy. Just a couch, small television set and another door that presumably led to the bathroom. She put her backpack cautiously on the couch, wary of Randy telling her off for doing so. Gracie looked around a little more and realised that there were other another man's belongings in there as well. Her hazel eyes shifted down to her feet, and sitting there innocently, was a black duffel bag. _J. CENA _said the big, bold, white lettering. Gracie looked up at Randy with a quizzical expression.

"That's my best friend's bag, Grace. He shares this room with me. His name's John, but you can call him Uncle Johnny. You can trust him like you trust me, okay? If you ever have a problem and I'm not around, talk to him." Randy said, smiling. "In fact, let's go find him now."

"Mmkay..." was all she replied.

He gently took her small hand and led her out of the room. They didn't have to search for long. It was common knowledge among the boys backstage that John Cena was always either in the locker room, getting ready for his match, or he was in catering, basically ordering to feed the army. Now, John had finished eating and was walking out when Randy and Gracie walked in. Upon seeing his best friend, John abruptly halted, grinned and gave Randy a man-hug. "Ehh, look who decided to join us again!"

Randy gave the other man a look.

"And so this must be the famous Gracie I've been hearing about! How are ya, Squirt?" John said with a grin.

Silence.

He was a little confused when the little girl didn't acknowledge him. He was John Cena after all and kids usually went bonkers when they saw him in person. John narrowed his eyes and looked up at Randy for explanation. What Randy was doing confused him even more. Randy was doing something with his hand; it looked as though he was bouncing an invisible basketball. John stared at the St. Louis

native like he had grown another head. Randy rolled his eyes and motioned for John to come closer.

"Get down to her height, for Pete's sake."

_Ohh..._ John finally understood. Randy was motioning for John to get down on his knees. John assumed that Gracie had problems greeting strangers, so he got down on his knees, to her height, just to make it easier for her. The little girl's head immediately lifted. As John stared into her hazel eyes for the first time, he saw pain and fear. He tried to lift the tension in the air.

"Hey there, Shorty."

Gracie narrowed her eyes teasingly. "I'm not short. You're just exceptionally tall."

John chuckled. "I love her already. Good choice Randy."

Randy watched the two interact with amusement. He'd never been able to get this playful side out of Gracie before and he was thoroughly enjoying watching it now. One thing concerned him though; he hadn't seen her laugh yet. Not even a giggle. Sure, she'd smiled with genuine happiness but no laugh. He made a mental note to ask John to see if he could try and crack that barrier.

"So Randy and Shorty," Gracie poked her tongue out at him. "Since we're in catering, wanna go and grab a bite? I'm slowly dying of starvation here."

Randy stared at John. "You just ate, didn't you?"

John scoffed. "Ate? _Ate_? What is this _ate _you're talking about. I've never heard of such a word." With that, he stood up, turned around and placed himself at the back of the line, leaving Randy and Gracie gazing in amusement.

Randy rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Gracie. He smiled when he saw her pulling stupid faces at John, who was throwing just as many back at her. "Gracie?"

She looked back up at Randy with a little smile still on her lips. "Yeah?"

He smiled. "What do you think of John?"

She thought for a minute. "Get rid of that ridiculous nickname, and I like him just fine."

Randy grinned and tapped her nose. "So are you hungry? I mean, you didn't have anything to eat on the way here." It was true. She hadn't touched her plane food, (which Randy couldn't exactly blame her for, sometimes that stuff was downright feral), and she hadn't asked to get anything when they stopped over in a gas station on the way here. Maybe she could use some food now.

She looked on in confusion. "Am I allowed to?"

Randy's eyes widened. "Are you allowed to eat?"

She nodded.

"Of course you're allowed to eat!" Randy exclaimed. What had her birth parents done to her? Had they told her that she wasn't good enough to eat? That she didn't _deserve_ to eat? Had she listened to them say that so much that she actually believed it? Randy was disgusted.

Gracie nodded again and looked back down at the floor. "Okay then."

Randy sighed. So much for her playful side coming out. She had retreated back into that shell that John had weaned her out of. There was no telling whether that side would come back in five minutes or in five hours.

John watched the two interact from his place in the cafeteria line. He assumed that Randy was persuading her into eating. His thoughts were confirmed when she nodded and he walked her over to the line, right behind John. She was looking down at her feet again. Talk about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. John looked at the nine year old with sympathy. "Shorty?"

She lifted her head but no eye contact. John could see her little green orbs darting back and forth. He could tell there was nothing more she wanted than to look up and tease him, but her stronger instincts told her otherwise. "Come on, Shorty, you know you want to look up."

She chewed on her bottom lip, considering this. Coming to a conclusion, Gracie shook her head and looked back down.

John and Randy sighed. A lot of work needed to be done here.

….

Gracie was lounging on the couch in the locker room, seemingly comfortable. Randy was having his match right now against someone- she really didn't know who. John was on the other end of the couch watching the TV. She had tried to watch some of the show at the start, but eventually she got bored of it, so she resorted to the book she had brought along with her, _Treasure Island._ It was her favourite book of all time and was thankful that Safe Haven had let her keep their copy it. She could relate to the story in many ways, which was one reason why she found it so entrancing. Another reason was how Robert Louis Stevenson brought the story to life. There was a knock on the door.

"Everybody decent?" Asked a female voice.

John's gaze turned away from the TV and looked towards Gracie. "You ready for another meeting ceremony, Shorty?"

Since their trip from catering, Randy and John's friends had been coming in and out of the locker room.

Well only two actually; Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair, who she immediately had taken a liking to. They reminded her of John, what with their goofiness and such. She still had her guard up, though. It had been there since they left catering. Because of this, Randy didn't want to overwhelm Gracie with too many intimidating Superstars, so he only allowed those two in. If and when her playful side came out, (in other words, when she was relaxed), Randy told John that only _then_ could everyone come in and out as they pleasured.

This of course had gone in one ear and out the other.

Gracie glanced up from her book. Her tone was soft, and slightly scared. "But didn't Randy say-"

"Don't worry, Shorty. Judging from the pitch of their voice, I'm guessing that some Divas are outside." His voice matched hers – soft. "They won't hurt you."

Her worried eyes switched between her book and John's eyes. She chewed her bottom lip. "What if they don't like me?"

Before John could answer, a blonde and an obviously dyed red-head bounded into the room, eager to meet the latest addition to the female crew backstage. A natural instinct to sudden movement, Gracie's head immediately faced downwards.

"Hey John." They chirped simultaneously. "Where's Randy?"

"At a fruit farm picking oranges and apples." John gave them a look. "He's out having a match with Big Show."

"Ohh, okay." They took a minute to look over the room before their eyes fell on the little girl, who was now curled up in a ball, on the couch. The blonde took a step towards John. "Is this her?"

John nodded. The two women looked at Gracie sympathetically. She looked so... scared. They glanced back at John. Be careful, he mouthed. They nodded and crouched down in front of the couch, in front of Gracie.

"Hey, princess." murmured the blonde. "My name's Trish. And this is Amy, but when she's on TV, we call her Lita."

Trish and Amy were met with silence. Gracie was lost in her thoughts. She hadn't even looked up yet. Meeting Shawn and Ric was okay, because Randy was there. But now he wasn't. Not to mention the fact that she had a chronic fear of women. Maybe she should of mentioned that to John... _Oh no... not again_, Gracie thought. She knew what was coming. Another panic attack. Before she could do anything to stop it, tears started trickling down her hidden face and she started whimpering. Her vision was blurry and the world was spinning. She started rocking, trying to comfort herself, even though she knew it wouldn't work. Only one thing, or person, could stop her panic attack right now, and he was in the ring.

John, Trish and Amy looked on. No-one knew how to make her feel better. The three of them leaned in closer to try and hear what she was muttering.

_"Randy..." "I need..." "Randy."_

Just then, a very sweaty Randy came in from his match with Big Show. He was eager to get straight in the shower and let his muscles relax. His eyes narrowed when he saw that Trish and Amy were in the room. Why were they here? Their eyes widened and they both quickly scurried out of the room. Randy sighed, he didn't have a problem with either of the Diva's, he just wanted Gracie relaxed and ca- wait where was Gracie? His gaze now shifted towards the couch, where he had left her. She was there, though she wasn't reading. Treasure Island was sitting next to her innocently. Gracie was curled up in a ball, head between knees, whimpering.

_"Randy..." "I need..." "Randy."_

Upon hearing his name and realising she was having another panic attack, Randy immediately picked his daughter up, and, not caring whether he was sweaty or not, cradled her in his arms. "Shh baby girl... it's me. I'm here."

The little odd noises and muttering she was making immediately ceased, and she looked up into Randy's eyes. They weren't mad like she thought they would be; instead, they were sympathetic and a little tired. Calm instantly overcame her. "I'm sorry Randy."

He laughed softly. "It's okay." She wriggled in his grip, wanting to get down. "Why do you want to get down?"

Gracie scoffed. "Because you stink like an elephant with diarrhea."

….

"Okay, we're in Room... 114 tonight. Ah, here we are."

Randy swiped the key card. _Click_. The door opened slightly and they walked into the room, setting their things down on the floor. Randy was exhausted and plopped down on his single bed. Usually he slept in Queen or Double beds, but this damn hotel didn't offer those along with an extra single bed. So two single beds it was. He turned his head to the left and watched his daughter carefully place her guitar on the floor. He wondered why it was so precious to her. "Gracie?"

"Mmm..." she replied.

"I'm gonna go and change into my PJ's in the bathroom, and when I come out, it'll be your turn to use it, kay?"

"Okay."

Right now, Randy was too tired to bring up the subject of today's panic attack. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Tomorrow they would talk about the reasons behind it, go talk to Trish and Amy and have a proper introduction, and perhaps meet some other Superstars. He smiled to himself as he thought about Gracie. She was his everything now. He couldn't even begin to think about his life without her. Her hazel eyes, beautiful golden hair and her cheeky smile had captured his heart. _Wow, that sounds corny,_ thought Randy as he walked out.

Gracie was sitting on her bed, waiting patiently with her bag of toiletries. She looked up and he nodded and smiled, giving the go-ahead. He sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through a magazine. Not a minute later, she came out of the bathroom. Randy looked on with surprise. "Wow, you do that pretty quick for a girl."

She shrugged and smiled. He watched her as she moved to put her belongings away. She was in an over-sized t-shirt with some short-shorts. Again, he couldn't help but notice how skinny she was. You could almost see the outline of her bones through her slightly tanned skin. Hmm... he was going to ave to do something about that.

Abruptly, she walked over to Randy and hugged his neck. Though a little surprised, he gratefully returned the hug. "What's this for?"

She pulled back, her little hands resting on the back of his neck. "A thank-you."

"For what?"

A moment passed. "For everything."

Randy pulled her back into a bear hug. "You're most welcome, baby girl." He kissed her forehead. "Now how about you get some sleep."

She nodded and walked over to her bed, lifted the covers and snuggled in. She shut her eyes and within seconds, she fell asleep. Randy took a minute to look at her. Gracie looked so angelic when she slept. So innocent. S_ince when were you so descriptive, _the voice in his mind scolded.

He shook his head and crawled into his own bed. His head hadn't even hit the pillow before he was fast asleep.

And not two hours later, he woke up to sound of screaming.

**A picture of Gracie has also been posted on my profile. Check it out ;O**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight.**

_Ding._

The elevator doors opened, inviting Randy and Gracie to come into the confined space. Randy walked in rubbing his eyes, tired from the events of last night, and Gracie followed him. She seemed very subdued and quiet, not scared, just quiet. He figured she was just tired too. Thank goodness no-one else was in the elevator; neither of them would have to explain the new-found bags under their eyes. Gracie yawned and slipped her tiny hand into his. Randy softly smiled, at least their relationship was still in tact. He squeezed her hand, reminding her to keep strong.

She leaned her forehead against the hand that was holding hers. "I'm tired."

"Hey there, Tired. I'm Randy." He smiled cheekily down at her, trying to get a giggle.

Instead, she rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean..."

"Yeah I know what you mean." He looked at her. "You want me to carry you into breakfast?"

"No thank you." She yawned.

Randy squeezed her hand again. He could feel her long eyelashes batting his skin, fighting to stay awake.

Still in this position, the elevator doors opened again, revealing a Superstar-filled lobby. Randy guessed that they was 'late' for breakfast because an aggravated John came storming up to them.

"Hey Shorty." He nodded at the half asleep girl holding onto his friend's hand. She half-smiled back. John turned his attention to Randy. "Seriously! How long do you freaking take to get dressed?"

_Ding, ding, ding. Correct answer, Randy._ "One: cut down on the cussing. We have an underage with us. And two: Is that all that's on your mind? Food?"

John nodded without shame and finally noticed the sleepy eyes. "Woah, dude, what happened to your eyes?"

Randy glanced at the almost-asleep Gracie standing next to them. "Not now..."

"Ahh... alright." John understood.

Gracie looked up from her tired state. "Hey... are you two talking about me?" She pouted a little.

They both shook their heads. "No..."

She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, right."

The two men leaned down to her height in unison. Randy spoke first. "Sorry baby girl. Yeah we were talking about you. John asked why we both looked so tired."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Shorty. I'll tell you what." John piped in. "I'll buy you a muffin. Of your choice of flavour. Chocolate... Blueberry... If you're lucky they might even have one with sprinkles."

Gracie wrinkled her nose. "I'm not four like you, John. I don't like sprinkles."

Randy chuckled. He found it funny that John was being insulted by a nine year old. He looked around. "Maybe we should head into town for breakfast. Too crowded here for a decent private conversation..."

Gracie whined in protest. "But I'm too tired to walk..."

Randy agreed. "I'll get the rental."

….

The three walked into the cosy little breakfast diner. John had spotted it when they were driving, halfway into town. It seemed perfect as there were practically no people in there. Yet.

Gracie tugged on Randy's hand, asking him to lean down so she could whisper in his ear. "I don't want anything to eat."

Randy's face crinkled in concern and he shook his head. "It's breakfast. You have to eat something."

She shook her head. "No."

Randy cocked an eyebrow and decided not to push it. "Okay." He said skeptically. "But if you're hungry just tell me, kay?"

Gracie nodded and sat herself down at a booth. Something needed to be changed about her diet.

John watched the two interact with interest. He looked at the girl sitting in the booth and decided to join her. "But I thought I was gonna buy you a muffin, Shorty."

Gracie looked up with spent eyes. "You can have it. I'm too tired to eat."

Randy watched her expression as her gaze turned back to the table. He looked down at John, as he was the only one still standing, and gave the other man a look that said, _Just leave it._

"Can I sit in between you two? I'm concerned you'll start a food fight." asked Randy.

John and Gracie rolled their eyes. "Sure."

Randy squeezed in the booth and placed himself between the two. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Gracie sensed that Randy wanted to talk to John about last night's events but was unwilling to do so in her presence. She decided to help him out a little. "Randy?"

Randy's blue eyes immediately flickered up from the menu. "Yeah baby?"

"Can I go to sleep?" She faked a yawn. "I'm tired. Really tired."

Randy fell for it and nodded. "Use my lap as your pillow and you can stretch out over the booth."

"Okay." Gracie mumbled. She laid her head on Randy and, when he wasn't looking, threw John an impish wink. John smiled. She knew that the two men wanted to talk about her. Before Randy could catch the two, Gracie's eyes shut and her breathing slowed. At first it was obvious that she was faking her sleep, but when her head drooped slightly, John knew that the nine year old was really dead to the world.

John cleared his throat. "So... um... about last night. Care to explain?"

Randy absentmindedly stroked his daughter's hair. Where to begin?

FIVE HOURS EARLIER...

"NO ALEX. N-No more... P-please..."

"John turn off the T.V..." mumbled a half-asleep Randy.

But the screaming and mumbling persisted. In fact, they got louder and louder, which pissed Randy off even more.

"John, I'm fucking serious. Tu-" Randy abruptly stopped. His thoughts were very cloudy at first, but now they were crystal clear. John wasn't sharing a room with him, and that wasn't the T.V that was screaming...

Randy's eyes opened and sat up so quickly he got a little dizzy. Once the world stopped spinning, he looked around the room. His eyes settled to his right where the other single bed was. They widened at the sight.

There was no blanket to conceal her body. Most likely it was on the floor in a messy heap. Her body was in full view for the world to see. It was writhing like it was being burnt with hot water. Her lean legs were kicking the mattress, as if in protest. Her little fists were clenched, trying to stop the non-existent pain. She was shrieking and screaming like there was no tomorrow. Occasionally the screaming, writhing and kicking paused and she pleaded for someone to stop, and that she would be a good girl now. And then it started all over again.

The most frightening thing about this scene was that her eyes were shut.

All Randy could do was sit in his bed and stare in horror at Gracie. His mind commanded his body to move, to go over to the other bed and comfort his daughter. But he couldn't move. He just couldn't. He was frozen. His body was aching (after a match with Big Show, who's wouldn't?), and his mind was numb. His breathing was shaky. _Go to your daughter and comfort her!_ yelled the voice in his head. But Randy was scared. He was scared to touch her, he was scared that he would only make her pain worse.

By the time Randy's body had started functioning again, the writhing and kicking had surprisingly stopped, but the screaming continued. This screaming was a different screaming though. This screaming was a longing, aching howl that was mixed with tears. It pleaded for someone to come and comfort her, and tell her that everything would be okay. It broke Randy's heart to hear something like that. And now that his body was finally performing, he got up, walked over to the other bed, sat down on it, and did exactly what the howling was asking for; he comforted her.

Randy took her and cradled her in his arms, but the crying and howling did not cease. As it continued, Randy rocked her, held her and stroked her hair while mumbling consoling phrases, until it grew softer and softer. Her eyes were still shut.

When the screaming (now shaky breaths) finally stopped, Gracie started to whisper incoherently. Randy still held her, looking down at her, expecting her to wake any minute now. But she didn't. She stayed semi-asleep, leaning on the inside of his left elbow, still whispering phrases that Randy couldn't hear properly. He leaned down to hear her, so close that his ear was almost touching her lips.

"No Alex... No..."

"P-please, I be a gooh gurl now..."

"I thoh I cooh trus you..."

"Sop hurtin me Alex..."

"I wanh Daddy..."

Silence.

_Finally._

Randy pulled his head away and gazed her her. Gracie's mouth was a shaped like a little 'O' and her breathing was finally deep and even. There was even a little drool dripping from the side of her mouth. He quickly wiped it up with the bottom of his wife beater before it could spill onto his skin. Randy glanced over at the alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. 2:43am.

He yawned, his body beginning to feel the effects of the night. Very carefully, so as not to wake her, Randy hooked his right arm under her knees, and carried her over to his bed. He laid her down before joining her on the small bed. Randy pulled her sleeping head and rested it on his chest, right on top of his heart. When he was little, Randy's mom, Elaine, always used to do that; she said that children liked to hear the lullaby of a heartbeat while they were sleeping, and that it comforted them.

Randy wrapped his strong arms around Gracie and fell into a very groggy sleep.

….

"Who's Alex?" John pounded his fist on the table. He was angry. How could someone hurt a child? How could someone hurt his Shorty like that? Ohh, someone was gonna get their ass kicked.

Randy sighed. "Please don't make a scene, John."

"But he fucking hurt her Randy! Gracie! Your own daughter."

"I realise that." Randy stated bluntly. "Bring your volume down to talking level."

John nodded and rubbed his temples. He looked up. "Who is he?"

"Again, I don't know. We can only assume he's a bad memory from Gracie's past."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." John rolled his eyes.

"Most welcome, Sargent Sarcastic."

They stopped bickering as a middle-aged waitress walked over to their booth with drinks. "What would it be this morning boys?" She pulled out her notepad.

They ordered. Randy got a grilled cheese and ham sandwich (needless to say he was surprised that a diner made them at this hour) and John got 36 Poffertjes, each coated in maple syrup and icing sugar.

Randy looked at him. "Why _36_?"

John shrugged. "Well, there's 24 for me and 12 for Sleeping Shorty."

"She's not going to eat 12 pancakes. She said she wasn't hungry, remember?"

John shrugged. "Then I'll finish them."

Randy looked at him skeptically. That man's appetite was going to be the death of him.

The waitress noted it all down and walked away. John poured himself some orange juice. "So you have no inkling at all as to who this Alex is?"

Randy shook his head. "Nope."

"Maybe we should ask her."

Randy's mouth opened to protest (if Alex was someone bad from her past he should stay in the past) but someone beat him to it.

"Ask me what?"

Gracie was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. He hadn't even notice her wake up. He glanced at John, who was sipping his drink. "Uhh..."

John set his drink down. "Who's Alex, Shorty?"

Gracie stared at her hands in her lap. Her lips trembled as she fiddled with her fingers.

Randy tried the more gentle approach. "Baby girl, who's Alex? Is he a bad man?"

She swallowed hard and didn't reply.

….

"Hey Randy! And John!"

The two turned around, curious as to who had called them. Randy, Gracie and John were back at the hotel. Breakfast was a little awkward after the subject of Alex was brought up. Many a time the two men had tried to include Gracie in their conversations, but she politely declined. It seemed that Alex was an unspeakable name, kind of like Voldemort. That only got Randy more and more curious about the man. Who was he, and what did he do to Gracie? And who said it was a _he_? Alex could very well be a girl's name. _Well, _he thought to himself, _at least they didn't start a food fight..._

Gracie squeezed Randy's hand. He squeezed it back as two women came bounding up to him. "Trish, Amy." He nodded.

"Look we just wanted to apologise for scaring her yesterday." Amy began.

"And we felt guilty, so we kinda wanna make up for it." Said Trish.

Randy smiled. "I appreciate the thought, ladies, but it's not me you should be apologising to."

He pointedly looked down at Gracie, who was staring intently at the floor.

They nodded understandingly and knelt down. Trish spoke first. "Hi princess."

Gracie hid herself behind Randy's arm. He chuckled. "They're not monster's, baby girl. You can talk to them."

She looked up at Randy with wide eyes. _Are you sure?_

He nodded encouragingly. She looked back down at the floor. She seemed to be working up the courage to look them in the eye. After a few moments she looked up and eyed at the ladies in front of her. "Hi." she whispered, eyes wide.

Trish smiled. "Hey princess. Look, we just wanted to say sorry about yesterday. We feel bad that we scared you." Amy nodded along. "We wanna make up for it."

Gracie, still not used to casual conversation, nodded.

"So what do you wanna do? We can go bowling, to an ice-cream parlour, to the circus, roller-skating..." Amy trailed off. "Or, we could do the thing that makes every girl feel better; shopping."

The excitement that came over Gracie's face over the last offer was as obvious as an elephant in a phone booth. She nodded eagerly, smiling. "Yes please."

Randy, John, Trish and Amy all laughed heartily. Trish grinned. "Shopping it is then."

….

"Why did you have to choose shopping?" Moaned John as they all tiredly flopped onto a bench.

Gracie spoke up from Randy's lap, while sipping the last of her chocolate milkshake. "It's your own fault for coming, Pumba."

Randy, Trish and Amy all snorted at John's new nickname. When they were all in Walmart looking at the DVD's, John had found _The Lion King_ and stated that it was his favourite movie. Gracie saw her opportunity and lept at it.

"You know, John," Gracie said cheekily, "You remind me of Pumba from that movie; your both pigs."

Everyone, even the young anonymous couple standing next to the group, was howling with laughter. Except for John, who was pretending to be hurt and was pouting.

Aside from that, the day had gone very smoothly. When they first arrived at North Park, Gracie was painfully shy around the two women, only hesitantly whispering back responses. Randy mentioned to Trish and Amy that she loved drawing and art in general, and so they dragged the rest of the group to the nearest art store, and told Gracie she could have whatever her little heart desired. The nine year old smiled happily and ran off down the various isles, contemplating on what she would get. In the end, she decided on some simple 'How To Draw...' books and some new colouring pencils.

When they arrived in front off Walmart, Gracie took Trish and Amy's hands and took off towards the young girl clothes section. She had great fun trying on and modeling clothes for Trish and Amy while Randy and John sat on a bench outside, bored. At least when fans flocked around them asking for autographs it gave them something to do. Now, although still a little shy, Gracie felt relaxed around the women.

Amy spoke up. "As fun as this has been, I say we get back to the hotel now."

Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement, especially John. They all stood up and Gracie threw her empty milkshake out. John was impatient and he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, so he led the way for the five of them, who was followed by Trish and Amy, (who were glancing longingly at some shoe shops nearby), and Randy and Gracie brought up the rear.

"So did you have fun today sugar?"

Gracie smiled, her green eyes shining. "Today was awesome!"

Randy laughed. "I'm glad."

Everyone was in a good mood by the time they reached John's rental (a seven-seater van). The women hopped in the very back, Randy sat in the middle with Gracie, leaving John up front by himself. Gracie curled up next to Randy. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, baby girl."

He wasn't expecting a reply. Instead, the little girl snuggled into him even more.

That was enough of an answer for him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

"Too. Much. Shopping!" Gracie said as she flopped onto the bed.

Randy huffed as he stood in front of her. "That's easy for you to say! You didn't have to carry it all in!"

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I do not develop muscles at this age." She smiled innocently. "You on the other hand, have them by the plenty. Therefore, I should not be put to that sort of child labor."

"Child labor, my ass." mumbled Randy under his breath.

"What was that?" Gracie chirped, her tone laced with authority.

Randy's eyes widened. "Nothing, nothing." He couldn't believe he was answering to a nine year old. "So, wanna watch a movie tonight? I mean, we got nothing else to do..."

"Sure."

Well that was simple. He watched her as she headed over to the couch and began to flick through the channels. After some searching, she settled on one she liked. "Randy, can we watch Final Destination 3?"

He blinked. "Is that even age appropriate for you?"

"No not really, but I wanna watch it anyway." She shrugged.

"Well then if it's not age appropriate, I'm sorry but you'll have to find another movie." Randy turned to his bag to look for his cell phone.

"But I already seen 1 and 2." She pleaded her case.

Randy kept his back turned to her. "Sorry. No can do."

Gracie sighed dramatically. "Ohh... okay then... 'Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue' it is..."

His eyes widened and he turned around immediately. "Well, I guess Final Destination 3 wouldn't be _that _bad."

The nine year old grinned as she got what she wanted. "The movie starts in 17 minutes."

Randy nodded and pulled out his cell phone out of his bag. "Yep. I need to make a couple of calls and I'll make us some popcorn."

Gracie nodded and got comfortable on the couch. Randy walked into the small kitchen and searched the grocery bags on the counter for some microwave popcorn. Knowing John, chances were that there was a packet in there that he had sneaked into the cart when they were shopping. He found it and popped it into the microwave.

The delicious smell of buttered popcorn started to fill the room. Randy pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number he knew so well. "Hey Pumba."

John seemed annoyed. "Shut up. Only she's allowed to call me that. And don't mean to be rude, but whattaya want? Final Destination is about to start."

"You and Gracie should hang out more." Randy grumbled. "And it starts in 15 minutes, we have plenty of time to talk."

"We're not teenage girls Randy. Get to the point." John said bluntly.

Randy rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. It's about Gracie."

"I realised that."

He sighed. "In all seriousness, I need your help. Have you noticed how she never laughs?" Randy chewed on his lip. "I mean, she smiles all the time, but she never giggles. Sometimes I can see her trying to hold a laugh back, but she won't let it out. And, I know that if she's gonna have her first laugh, you're going to be the cause of it."

A silent moment passed over the line as they both thought about what Randy just said. He could just see the idiotic grin on John's face as little ideas were planted in his head.

"Randy." John smiled. "You've come to the right man." And with that, he hung up.

Randy stared at his phone. Something told him he was going to regret that decision. He shook his head and decided not to worry about it just yet. Now he was speed-dialing the other number that he knew off by heart.

"Hello?" chirped a female voice. He could hear voices in the background bickering.

"Hey Mom, it's Randy."

"Oh hey Randy, sweetie! How are you and Gracie?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're good. Listen, I need you to do me a favour."

"Sure."

Randy took a breath as he began to explain what he needed. He stressed the importance of the reasons for its purchase to his mom. Nothing fancy, just something that would do the job. And nothing too expensive either. "I'll pay you back as soon as I come back home."

"Oh don't be silly, dear. Just think of it as a welcoming present for the newest member of the Orton family."

Randy smiled at his mother's stubbornness. "Okay, okay fine. Are Becky and Nathan there?"

"Yes, they're here. They're arguing about sport. _Again._ The grandchildren are here somewhere as well... I think their with Bob and the horses."

"Oh, okay. I'll leave you guys be then. I'll be round there in about a week or so."

"Okay darling. Give Gracie a big hug and kiss from me. I love you." The line went dead.

Randy turned his phone off, grabbed the popcorn from the microwave and made his way over to Gracie on the couch.

…

"I wish I had dreams like that girl did." Gracie stated. "That way I'd be able to predict the future."

Randy agreed. "Yeah, so do I. But we don't get everything we wish for."

_Don't I know that..._ thought Gracie. "Yeah. I'm gonna go to bed now."

"Okay. You can get changed in the bathroom." Randy was already in his pajamas. Gracie stood up from the couch and stretched a bit. During the movie, he had expected her to be grossed out by all the blood and gore. Instead, she had stared at the screen intently. She really was an Orton. When she was done stretching, she walked over to her things, collected them and shut the door to the bathroom. He followed suit and stood up as well. Who knew you could be so tired from watching a television screen?

Randy crawled into his bed and snuggled in, content to get some snores. He was hoping that Gracie wouldn't have another nightmare. He was still horribly tired from last night, as was she. He heard her unlock the door as her small feet shuffled over the carpet, putting her belongings back in their place. Randy's eyes started to droop. Seemed that he was more tired than he first thought. He was pretty much at the gates of LaLa-Land when something started to poke his ribs.

Randy turned over with eyes barely open. He saw Gracie standing at the edge of the bed staring at the floor. "I'm sorry if I waked you Randy."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "No it's okay. I wasn't falling asleep anytime soon, anyway." Total lie. "Everything okay?"

Her voice was soft as she spoke. "Umm... well, you know how I had a nightmare last night... well I, uhh, don't really get them when someone's holding me while I sleep. So I was wondering-"

"Sure. Get in here."

Gracie was happy that Randy had understood quickly. She felt nervous and slightly awkward asking him that question. She snuggled into his well-toned chest and, as always, rested her head in the crook of his neck. She closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Randy."

Her breathing slowed as she fell into unconsciousness. He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, baby girl."

…

"Randy!"

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me put the last of my stuff away?"

"Sure I'll be right there." Randy wiped with hands with a tea towel as he jogged up the stairs to Gracie's room.

He, Gracie and John (or Pumba) were now in St. Louis, helping Gracie settle in to her home-away-from-home when she wasn't on the road. Vince had had a hard time letting two of his biggest stars take time off, even if it was only for a week. Randy was continuing with the Big Show stunt, so the storyline was that Big Show (as the heel) had put Randy (the face) out of action for at least a week after being on the receiving end of one of his gigantic Knockout Blows. John had an even worse time convincing the boss, especially since they were in right in the middle of his Jericho-Christian storyline, which would eventually lead to him defending his WWE Championship against them in a Triple Threat match. He had finally persuaded Vince into letting him go with Randy by saying that 'Gracie needs her Pumba and I need my Shorty.' This, of course, had made no sense at all to Vince.

The past week had been spent buying food, clothes and furniture for Gracie. She had settled on painting her room green and blue, her favourite colours. All of her furniture was either green, blue or white. Her bed, desk, drawers, computer chair... the whole lot. She had brought very little in her suitcase from Safe Haven, and so, in the midst of furniture shopping, the three of them had also started clothes shopping. Needless to say the two men were going to be horrified when their credit card bill came around.

The time that wasn't spent shopping, was spent showing Gracie around St. Louis. Randy had even taken her to his favourite coffee shop, which was hidden down an alleyway, behind a hotel. It was very family friendly and he had never been asked for a photo or autograph there, which made the place all the better. Plus, they made delicious pancakes topped with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce, accompanied by hot chocolate with a huge marshmellow floating in it. Well, according to Gracie, they were delicious. Randy preferred just plain, normal coffee (two sugars) with a blueberry muffin. He had never seen her eat so much, and he was extremely happy about that. Every morning from then on in, he had brought her in there. Everytime, she ordered the same thing. Sure, it was unhealthy. But at least she was finally eating. He was hoping to expand her diet from there on.

Randy reached his daughter's room, and opened the door to find her attempting to put her books on a bookshelf. Problem was, she was too short. "Need a hand, Shorty?" He smiled as he leaned against the frame of the door.

Gracie kept her back turned to him. "Only Pumba can call me Shorty, Randy. You can call me Gracie. And yes, I would appreciate some help."

He chuckled and walked over, taking in a once-over of the room. She wasn't doing too bad of a job. The only thing that seemed wrong was that the room seemed so... empty. There were no framed photographs, no posters, no trophies. Nothing. He reminded himself to start taking pictures of her.

As he set the third Twilight book, Eclipse, on the shelf (Gracie had insisted on new books when they were shopping, she was reading way beyond her years...), Randy heard John call his name from downstairs. "Yo! Randy! There's a package for you."

"Okay!" He set Eclipse down and turned to Gracie. "Stay up here, sugar, okay? I've got a surprise for you."

Her face lit up and she grinned. "Okay."

Randy started to walk out of the room. He looked over his shoulder. "Just yell for Joh-Pumba if you need more help."

He barely heard her say 'Okay' as he power-walked down the hall and bounded down the stairs to John, who was holding a FedEx package. John handed it to him. "Here you go, bro."

"Thanks." Randy said absentmindedly. "Gracie needs some assistance with her bookshelf. Go help her." He ran off towards the back of the house.

John stared after him. Even he didn't know what Gracie's surprise was. John ran up the stairs and walked towards Gracie's room. He looked through the wide open door and was met with the same sight that Randy was. Gracie trying to reach up towards the bookshelf but failing because she was so short. John laughed. "And you wonder why I call you Shorty."

She turned around with a playful glare. "Shut it, Pumba. My nickname isn't as bad as yours."

He shrugged. "At least I'm not short."

The frown disappeared as she started to smile, forgetting what John had just said to her. "Hey Pumba... do you know what my surprise is?"

"Nope. I honestly have no idea Shorty. I guess we'll both have to wait and see what Randy's brought you..."

Gracie's lips twitched. "Okay... now can I get some help here?"

John headed over, but instead of putting the books up there himself, he told Gracie to get a book, and when she did, he lifted her up by the waist so she could put it up there. They kept doing this until two bookshelves were filled. When the last book was placed on the shelf, and John had set her on her feet, she was grinning. "You make putting books away so much funner than Randy."

"I'll take offense to that, thank you." Randy said from the doorway, apparently done with setting up with whatever he was setting up. "Are you ready for your surprise, baby girl?"

She smiled shyly. "Mhm."

Randy smiled back. "Okay, come here." Gracie walked over to him. "Shut your eyes tight, and hold me and Pumba's hands."

John gave him a look. "It's John, Randy. John. Not Pumba."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Randy and John guided her down the stairs, through the hall, past the kitchen, towards the back of the house. John opened the door to the patio. He looked around. "Soo... where's the surprise?"

Randy ignored him and turned Gracie so she was facing her surprise. "You ready?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay then. Open your eyes." He whispered in her ear.

Gracie's eyes flickered open. Her eyes widened. A huge, white hammock laid in front of her at the end of the patio, swinging slowly. A bright green and blue bow was tied around the left side. She turned around. "Oh my goodness! Thank you, thank you, thank you Randy!" She hugged his waist as tightly as she could.

Randy smiled. "Anything for you, sweetpea."

...

Later on that night, Randy and Gracie were lying in the hammock, gazing at the stars. She was very comfortable as she laid on his shoulder, the hammock swinging gently back and forth. She was in deep thought when Randy pulled her from them. "Hey Gracie?"

"Mmm?" He hated to pull her from her thoughts. She looked so peaceful.

"Tomorrow we're gonna go and meet my mom and dad, and your Aunt Becky and Uncle Nathan, and all their kids. Is that okay?"

A look of nervousness set on her face as she looked up at him. _But what if they don't like me?_

Randy squeezed her shoulders. "I promise you, they will. And you'll like them as well."

**New story, coming soon! :D  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10.**

"Grace, it's okay. They're going to love you, I promise."

Randy glanced at his daughter in the passenger seat. The look of worry and absolute dread was plain on her face. The two were currently two minutes away from Bob and Elaine's ranch, driving in Randy's Hummer. She was so nervous that her hands were shaking.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "What if they make you send me back?"

Randy felt his heart drop. He chewed on his lip as he drove his Hummer off the road and stopped the car. Gracie looked on in confusion. Randy gestured for her to come over and hug him.

She nervously crawled over the gearbox and sat in his lap, pressing her forehead up against his chest muscle. It was only then that Randy realised she was crying. Only tears, not sobbing, but still crying. She repeated her question between shaky breaths. "What if they make you send me back?"

Randy stroked her hair and squeezed her. "Gracie? Gracie I want you to look at me please." Her teary green eyes met his blue ones. "I will _never _send you back to Safe Haven. _Never_. I'm not going to just dump you back there because my parents won't like you. No. I'm not ever gonna dump you there, Gracie. I'm never gonna reject you for who you are. I'm never gonna leave you."

Her tears were gone by the time Randy had finished his gallant speech, Gracie's spur-of-the-moment tears had disappeared. "But Randy... I have R.A.D. I'm abnormal. There's something wrong with me."

"What on earth is R.A.D?" He was confused. And curious.

Gracie's eyes trailed guiltily. "...They didn't tell you did they."

"Tell me what? Gracie, look at me." He lifted her chin gently. "What's R.A.D?"

She swallowed.

"Gracie, what's R.A.D? Answer me, please."

She stared at the staring wheel as she explained in a whisper. "R.A.D. stands for Reactive Attachment Disorder. It, uh, means that I don't have the ability to form proper relationships, as a, uh, result of abuse..."

Randy frowned. "Gracie, you don't have a disorder. Nothing's wrong with you. You're a victim of someone's torture." She cringed slightly. "And as a result of that, you live in your own little shell, trying to protect yourself from being hurt again. That's only natural. And it's my job as your new father-figure to get you out of that shell. And be your new daddy."

At the mention of the last word, her eyes became cold and dark. She stared a hole into Randy. "You'll _never_ be my daddy."

Gracie removed herself from his clutch and shuffled back to the passenger seat. That blank look that was in her eyes the first time he saw her, was back.

Randy leaned on the steering wheel and cursed himself. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID Randy! Of course you _had_ to send her back in that hole, the day she was gonna meet your parents. Smart, Randy, smart. _He groaned inwardly. Today was going to be a long day.

The next two minutes were awkward. Gracie stared blankly ahead, showing no emotion at all. Randy gripped the steering wheel tightly as they pulled into the long, rocky driveway that led to the (other) Orton mansion. Gracie shifted her gaze to the side window. Her attention was instantly captivated and her eyes widened. On both sides of the driveway were several paddocks. Those paddocks contained her favourite animal. Lots and lots of her favourite animal.

"Are those your dad's horses, Randy?" Usually her pride would get the best of her, and she wouldn't talk to him. But now was not the time.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. If she was prepared to talk, then so was he. "Yeah. I forgot to mention, hes got a stable of about 25 horses. Plus he shares some of these paddocks with his neighbours horses. So altogether, there's probably around 75-80 horses on this property."

"Oh."

The nine year old gazed out the window. Before her were appaloosas, duns, skewbalds, strawberry roans and even some palominos. Gone was the anger towards Randy; horses always seemed to calm her. A small smile grew on her face.

Randy sneaked another look at her. She was staring out the window with an intense expression. Her button nose was pressed right up against the glass. So cute.

The paddocks and fields left and they were replaced with gardens. Gracie was pretty sure she even saw a fountain or two. As the car approached, a dog -german shepard?- ran out of the house and up to the Hummer, barking. Randy stopped the car right outside the front door, turned off the engine, pausing for a second to look back at his daughter, and hopped out.

The large dog jumped on him, woofing excitedly. Randy chuckled. "Hey, easy there Tanga."

Gracie undid her seatbelt, and ever so gracefully, stepped out of the generously proportioned car. She shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jean shorts and glued her eyes to her feet, shuffling restlessly. The dog called Tanga noticed the girl's presence and ran around the vehicle. Contrary to Randy's guesses, Gracie didn't seem scared when the yapping dog bounded up to her. Instead, she bent down and grabbed the sides of the dogs head, and made Tanga look deep into her eyes. Tanga immediately stopped barking. After a few seconds, she smiled. He licked her chin.

Randy watched from afar. He was amazed at how in touch with animals his little girl was. And he wasn't the only one. Bob, Elaine, Becky and Nathan Orton were all watching from the front door. Seeing them, he made his way over to his family. Gracie stayed where she was.

"Randy!" They all chorused in unison.

"You guys act like I've been gone for 23 years..." Randy rolled his eyes playfully. He greeted each of them with a hug. All eyes fell on Gracie, who was still standing next to the car.

"Is that her?" Murmured Becky.

Nathan stared at her. "No, Becky, that's just some random child Randall decided to pick up along the way." All the other Ortons glared at him. "Okay, okay, geez. I was just trying to lift the mood."

Randy rolled his eyes again. He turned in the direction of Gracie. "You know they don't bite, sugar. You can come over."

Keeping her head down, the nine year old very hesitantly shuffled over to the humongous front door. Surely doors that size were illegal? She slipped her small hand into Randy's and pretended to scratch the back of her neck.

Randy knelt down and shook her arm gently, whispering. "Don't be scared baby." Her green eyes looked up and met his. "Hey, there she is. See Uncle Nate there?" Gracie nodded, not looking at at anyone else but Randy. "He's just like Pumba, okay? He's loud and immature and acts like he's 3 and a half all the time."

"What? Hey! I'm not like that!"

Randy ignored his brothers outburst. "That there's Aunt Becky. She's one of the most wonderful, sweet women you'll ever meet. I know it's hard for you to trust women, but I can promise, she'll never lay a finger on you."

"And the other two, those are my parents. Better known as Mam and Pop. They're all amazing people, Gracie, and they would never, ever hurt you."

Elaine spoke gently. "C'mon beautiful, look up and show us those gorgeous green eyes of yours."

Chewing on the inside of her lip, fingers twitching, and holding tightly onto Randy's hand, she very slowly looked up at everyone.

Pop, Elaine, Nathan and Becky's heart dropped in unison. The pain in the little girl's eyes reminded them of a puppy who had been kicked and beaten and left alone in the middle of a crowded street.

Pop broke the tense silence after 30 seconds. "Sweetheart, would you like to come to the stables and see some of my horses?"

After a moment, a tiny voice squeaked. "Can Randy come with me?"

Pop nodded. "Sure."

As the three of them stepped off the porch and onto the gravel towards the stables, Pop offered his hand to Gracie but she politely declined and kept her free hand to herself. He looked at Randy with concern but Randy just shook his head. _Don't worry about it._

They didn't head straight over to the stables, instead they wandered over the little paddock just to the right of it. There were six horses in there, including two foals. Gracie's eyes widened and her pace quicked slightly.

Father and son leaned against the fence, watching the nine year old standing between them. She was watching the creatures before her with so much intensity it would've made Kurt Angle blush. She studied the horses from head to hoof. Whether they had socks, different coloured eyes, the patterns on their skin; everything. Then, she spotted one on the far side. She quickly noted that it was a he. He was large, even for a stallion. The other horses seemed intimidated by him, gesturing that he was the leader of the herd. He had quick black eyes and a beautiful buckskin coat. Gracie mouth turned into a small 'o'. He looked so much like Gwen it wasn't even funny.

"Daddy used to own horses like these in my 'happy time'." She mumbled to herself, but the men heard her. She looked up to Randy. "Who's that buckskin over there?"

He smiled. "One, baby girl I don't even know what a buckskin is. Two, it's not me you should be asking."

Her lips twitched. _I was hoping to avoid that._

Randy chuckled. "Go on."

Gracie's head turned downwards and she slowly faced Pop. "Who's that buckskin over there, sir?" Her voice had lowered to a whisper.

Pop's face melted into one of sympathy. "Honey, you don't have to call me sir. I'm Pop to everyone in this family." She nodded slowly. "And to answer the question, that buckskin over there, his name's Ronnie."

She looked at his shoes the whole time. "May I go and see him?"

He licked his lips. "I'm sorry, I'd be comfortable with you meeting any other horse, but not Ronnie. He's a feisty beast, he is. He'll try and bite anyone that comes near his head. I'm sorry, but no."

Her little face frowned and she turned to Randy. "Trust me Randy. Please? I'm good with horses."

Randy looked at his father, who quickly shook his head. "No, Gracie. Ronnie's dangerous."

"Please Randy?" She was biting her lip.

"No."

She blinked, and within seconds, she was climbing under the fence and making her way towards Ronnie. Randy and Pop were yelling after her, shocked that she had disobeyed them. But she didn't care. She knew what she was doing.

Ronnie was scratching his hindquaters (back legs) when Gracie walked very slowly towards him. She put both hands in front of her, showing him that she had no weapons. She walked right up to where he was scratching just before. He watched her the whole time. She patted his giant leg muscle very gently, slowly making her way to the front of his head.

"Hey, I'm not so bad am I. I'm not gonna hurt you, baby...Shh..."

Gracie continued to whisper incoherently. Ronnie watched her, curious. She stroked him until she reached the middle of his neck. Then, she stopped, because she was too short to reach the rest of his head. Ronnie dipped his head, it looked as if he was about to munch on some grass. But he didn't. The grass stayed in its place.

Pop looked at the once-wild horse with open shock. What Ronnie was doing right now was a horse's sign of submission.

The nine year old slowly began to pat Ronnie's cheekbone, something that he had never allowed anyone to do before. Suddenly she pulled her hand away, and started to walk back to where Pop and Randy were. Ronnie looked up and watched Gracie walk away. The horse hesitantly started to follow her.  
The two men watched with open surprise and a little bit of shock. Pop cleared his throat and hushed to Randy.

"Your Gracie's special, Randy. Real special."

…

Randy slammed the door of his Hummer shut and proceeded to walk to his front door. Gracie followed him, her head down.

The car trip back was deadly silent. Randy was slightly angry at her for not following his rules. After the incident with Ronnie out in the paddock, Pop, Randy and herself had headed back to the house, none of them uttering a word about what had just happened. There, Elaine had cooked up a feast for lunch. You had to when _all_ the Orton men were staying for a meal. At the table, they had all tried to include Gracie in their conversations, but she didn't reply, not even when Randy had attempted. She quietly moved her roast chicken and vegetables around on the plate with her fork, desperate to not attract attention.

She was busy thinking about what would happen when they got home. She could imagine the scene; Randy telling her what an embarrassment she was by not talking to his family members, and then breaking his promise and sending her back to Safe Haven. Or breaking his other promise and beating her ass for not being polite to relatives.

All these thoughts and more were playing and replaying in her head as she made her way to the living room, where Randy was waiting with his arms folded.

Gracie suddenly felt cold. She wrapped her arms around herself in sheer fright. She chewed on her lip as she anticipated what was coming next and stared at his knees.

Randy knelt down to her height to talk to her, as he had always done. Gracie took a step backwards, scared for her life. She had finally let someone in, let someone get close to her, and she was certain that she was going to wind up getting hurt by someone she thought she could trust, again. She felt her eyes sting.

"Gracie, don't be scared. Please." Randy sighed. No response. "Look, you disobeyed me earlier after I specifically told you not to go and see Ronnie. Unfortunately, that means you need to be punished."

Gracie's little head jerked upwards, revealing her crying eyes. "You said you wouldn't hurt me! Ever! And now you're going to break your promise like everyone else did! I knew I couldn't trust you!"

Randy was thrown completely off-guard by her tearful outburst. Gracie took off down the hall, wanting to go to her hammock and cry.

She was knocked onto her butt by a big muscly wall. John looked down at Gracie and immediately bundled her up in a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"Don't let him hurt me, Pumba." More sobs. "Please Pumba..."

John's heart dropped but he didn't say anything. He just squeezed her tightly and let her soak the shoulder of his new $300 Giorgio Armani t-shirt.

Randy walked in the hallway, barging in on the scene. John looked at him, confused and unimpressed that he had made his Shorty cry. Randy shrugged, clueless.

John whispered in Gracie's ear. "Shorty, go to the hammock. Lemme talk with Randy for a minute. I'll come out there when I'm done." Without needing a second prompting, she sped off to the back porch, not once look Randy's way. Once she was out of earshot, John instantly started to pepper Randy with questions.

Randy raised his hands in defence. "Hey let me have a chance to speak. All I told her was that she needed to be punished for disobeying my orders earlier."

John stepped towards Randy and smacked the back of his head. "You stupid. Once she heard the word 'punishment', she thought you were gonna beat her up."

"Ohhhh, fuck..." Randy mumbled, squeezing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

John smacked him again. "Well don't just stand there and be sad about it. Get out to the hammock and talk to Shorty."

Randy nodded and jogged towards the back door. "Thanks Pumba!" John didn't even bother to correct him.

Outside, Randy was trying to approach Gracie on the hammock without trying to scare her. It dawned on him that this exact situation had occurred before. Back when he was convincing her to come with him on the road. _Gosh, that seems like such a long time ago... _Randy randomly thought.

Now, Gracie had her eyes shut and her chin quivering. He knew that this time he couldn't wrap her up in a protective cuddle and rock her until she felt better. He would have to wait for her to come to him this time.

He sat as far away as possible from Gracie, right on the edge of the hammock. Her position didn't change. He whispered. "Baby girl..."

She swallowed hard and opened her eyes. "You said you wouldn't hurt me."

Randy chose his words carefully. "But that's just it, Grace. I haven't hurt you. And I never will. When I said you needed to be punished, I meant taking away your T.V. privileges for tonight, or maybe making you do the dishes at tomorrow's breakfast. I didn't mean that I would beat you up. Never. I apologise if it came out that way."

She thought for a minute. "I'm sorry too."

"For..." he prompted.

She looked down. "For going to Ronnie when you said I wasn't allowed to. But I swear I knew what I was doing, Randy."

"Okay, I trust you." He looked at her. "I feel really bad for scaring you like that. How about I make it up to you by taking you back to the coffee shop you love. And I'll take you back to Pop's ranch, back to the horses, to see Ronnie. How 'bout that?"

Gracie cautiously looked back at Randy. "Pumba has to be there."

So her trust in him still wasn't fully recovered. Randy sighed but complied. "Okay. And don't worry, tomorrow will be a good day. For both of us."

Neither of them could even begin to imagine how wrong he was.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven.**

_BERP. BERP. BERP._

"Wake up, baby girl." whispered Randy.

Gracie's small eyes fluttered open. He smiled cautiously down at her from his position on the edge of the bed. Her face showed no emotion. Clearly, he had not won her trust back yet. Testing his theory, he reached out to stroke her cheek, and she leaned slightly away.

He sighed. "Look, I said I'm sorry, Grace. I don't know what else to do."

The nine year old -Randy had to keep reminding himself of that- looked into his eyes. Blinked once. Blinked twice. She chewed on her lip, deep in thought, for what seemed like an eternity.

Very slowly, she allowed herself to wrap her arms around his waist. "Don't scare me like that again." She mumbled against his chest.

Randy pulled his daughter even closer to him. He kissed the top of her small head, and ran his fingers through her golden hair. "I love you. Don't ever forget that."

No reply.

He wasn't expecting one. He knew that she loved him too, even if she herself didn't realise it. Because of her past, it would take her a long time to say that word again. Deep down, he had started to raise questions about it. Gracie had known him for about a month now, and he still had no inkling as to what had happened all those years before Safe Haven.

But even deeper down, he didn't care about that. All Randy wanted was to hear the word"Daddy."

**...**

The bell chimed, and the door to LeFerret's Cosy Cafe swung open. John and Randy walked in, followed by Gracie. Her head was down and she was completely engulfed in her own world. She wasn't holding anyone's hand this time, instead, her arms were folded over her chest. It did bother Randy slightly though, that she was walking closer to John rather than himself. Perhaps this is what jealousy felt like.

"Your choice of seating, madame." John gestured.

She smiled up at John and made her way over to a booth right at the back. The two men followed her and sat down. LeFerret's, as per usual, was pretty much empty, so a waitress noticed them pretty quickly.

"Afternoon Randy, Gracie." chirped the aging woman.

Randy smiled at her. "Nancy."

"What'll it be?"

After coming in day after day, and ordering the same meal each time, for almost 10 years, the workers at LeFerret's had taken a liking to their best customer (Randy). Now bringing Gracie here too, she was treated the same; like a part of the family.

Randy explained this to John who was confused as to how Nancy knew his best friend personally. John nodded. "Okay... I'll have... two- no four, slices of the Meatlover's pizza."

Nancy nodded and looked at Randy. "The usual?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The usual."

The waitress scribbled 'ham and cheese, grilled' on her notepad. "What about you sunshine?" She turned to Gracie.

The younger girl shrugged. "Not hungry this morning, Ma'am."

Randy twisted in his spot to face his daughter. "No, Gracie, we're not having this again. You have to eat."

Gracie glanced at him, nervous. "The usual, then." She whispered. Nancy threw a worried look towards the nine year old as she walked away.

John and Randy immediately started to talk about wrestling-related subjects, so Gracie turned her head away, disinterested.

Her thoughts resembled those of a camper's knot. She was very confused right now. Randy said yesterday that she was going to be punished for disobedience, which was reasonable enough. But then this morning, he had come up to her room and said 'I love you'. Punishment was for bad people, and bad people don't deserve love, right? That's what her Mom taught her, that's what she learned to live by. Bad people don't deserve love and get lots of punishment. She was one of them.

This was starting to make her head ache.

Deciding that thinking about Randy was too much, she started to think about Pumba. She had definitely surprised herself by taking to John so quickly. At least when she was around him, she knew whether he wasn't on her side, or if he was. It was always the latter. Very quickly, he was becoming her best friend. Someone she could depend on. Someone that would always make her smile. Someone that could make her laugh on the inside. She loved him for that.

Wait. _What?_

She _loved _Pumba? No, no no. That wasn't love, ...right? It was just the feeling of extreme happiness and security in the knowledge that those around her weren't going to hurt her. One, why was she even thinking about that four-letter word? After Daddy had left, she swore to herself that she would never speak or think of that word again. Two, why on Earth was she applying that word to Pumba, and not Randy?

The bottom of Gracie's stomach rumbled with guilt. If she was going to love, then shouldn't it be Randy first? The man who adopted her and reached out to her when she needed someone?

Forget camper's knots. This was even more confusing than all the love triangles combined on Soap Opera Saturday.

Thinking causes too much confusion. Let's just focus on pancakes with ice-cream now.

Gracie looked up slowly. Surely enough, Nancy was making her way over to the booth, balancing three plates full of food. Randy and John were still very much involved in their own conversation.

Gracie smiled a thank-you as the older woman placed a plate full of pancakes (topped with ice-cream and chocolate sauce) in front of her. She picked up her fork and knife and cut herself a nice chunky piece of pancake. Randy and John excused themselves to go and get some coffee, leaving her at the booth by herself. Just then, the bell to LeFerret's rang and the door opened. Gracie looked up to see the new customers. Well only one actually. Her eyes widened.

Her worst nightmare had just walked into the cafe.

She watched him as he looked around for a waitress to show him where to sit. Her heart dropped and tears filled her eyes. He was balding much more than when she had last seen him. His once little beer belly was now very pronounced. And of course, those horrible, ice blue eyes, sharp as ever. Thankfully they weren't so sharp that he hadn't seen her yet.

All of a sudden, she was a little six year old girl again who, night after night, had begged for his mercy. She struggled to maintain her composure as he sat at a table not too far from her own. A large amount of bile mounted in her throat. She tried to force it back down, but even that was becoming a struggle. Her asthma had cruelly decided that now would be a good time to play up.

Gracie tried to maker herself as small as possible, a natural instinct to fear. She was praying to God, Buddha, Allah or whatever superior being was out there, for him not to look up and see her. _Please no. Let luck be on my side for once._

Luck had never been on her side.

His eyes- those horrible, blue eyes- were scanning the menu. She let out a choking sob. His big dumbo ears, which were as sharp as sharp as his sight, picked up on the noise, and he looked up. She looked him straight in the eye, hoping that he wouldn't recognise her. He squinted at her, trying to remember where he had seen that face before.

A sinister smirk set on his face, and Gracie knew, in that instant, that Alex remembered her, and what he had done to her, all those years ago.

She felt her whole body go numb with fear as he left his table and sauntered over to her booth. Lack of oxygen from her asthma attack was finally starting to take its toll and her head began to droop. Where were Randy and Pumba?

Realising that her two protectors were in the vicinity somewhere, she began to cry their names. Almost no air was going through to her lungs now, making her cries just mumbles under her breathe.

Before she knew it, Alex was at her table. He grabbed her arm and yanked her small body towards him. He pressed his lips to her ears, taking in the smell of her hair.

"Hello Abigail." he whispered in his thick European accent. Gracie was close to unconsciousness.

He chuckled and tightened his grip on her, making escape impossible. "How great is it that we meet again. Now that I've found you, I will tell your mother, Uncle Davie and _all my friends _where you are now. No-one and nothing will stop me from hurting you again."

Alex laughed again, and turned her face towards him. "My, my... you've gotten so pretty."

Gracie whimpered. Mustering up all the breathe left in her, she yelled at the top of her voice. "Pumba, Randy, DADDY!"

She broke down and Alex tightened his grip on her even more, cutting off all circulation in her right arm. "You little bitch."

"Daddy!" she cried again. Gracie passed out.

Randy came round the corner with John at his side, carrying a coffee. Upon seeing the two larger men, Alex let go of the unconscious Gracie and ran out of LeFerret's.

Randy dropped his coffee, the cup shattering into a million pieces, and he ran over to his daughter. "Someone get me a fucking puffer!"

Realising that no-one probably had one on them, he picked her up and placed her on his hip, baby style. He turned to John.

"Call the emergency room and tell them we're on our way."

…

Déjà vu is a funny thing.

Almost exactly 24 hours ago, Randy was slamming the door to his car in an angry manner. Now, he was gently shutting the same door, with Gracie hanging onto him like a Christmas decoration.

John came around from the other side of the car and stood in front of the two. Randy went to speak but Gracie lifted her head and beat him to it.

"Pumba... can you go inside the house for now?" She swallowed. "I need to talk to Randy, alone."

"Bu-"

She reached out and stroked John's cheek, a silent plea. Who could resist those huge green eyes?

"Okay." he mumbled. John walked into the house, leaving Randy and Gracie alone.

"Hammock?" She asked simply. He nodded and carried her there.

After running out of LeFerret's earlier that afternoon, they had gone straight to the ER, where there was a puffer waiting for Gracie. When she had been brought back to the land of the living, nurses told the two anxious men that she was free to go, and just to keep an eye on her in case of the relapse.

Randy sat down on the hammock with Gracie, and they just sat there for a bit, reflecting on the past four or so hours. Sitting in the hospital bed, Gracie was unresponsive to everyone, even the nurses. She was going through flashback hell. Randy knew that she was holding back the tears and heart-breaking sobs for later.

Later was now.

He also knew that once she started to let all the pain and fear out, she wouldn't stop, so he decided to ask now, carefully. "So... what did you want to talk about, baby girl?"

Gracie mumbled. "M-My past."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve.**

"_So... what did you want to talk about, baby girl?"_

_Gracie mumbled. "M-My past."_

Randy's mouth dropped slightly, but he didn't say anything. He knew this day was eventually bound to come, but he didn't think it would come this soon. "First of all, who was that man, baby?"

Her eyes glazed over. "A-Alex."

So that was the man who was giving her nightmares. Randy immediately started to think of ways on how to very painfully incapacitate and disable the perverted bastard, even though he had no idea what he had done to her.

Gracie noticed the change of expression on the man's face. Curiosity to anger. She bit on her lip, now nervous of his reaction. Angry Randy wasn't a good thing. Maybe if she staved him off for a while by telling him her past, he wouldn't take his anger out on her. Yep, that's a good idea.

"Randy?"

A pair of irritated ice-blue eyes flashed down to her. They softened slightly when they saw the fear in her. He rubbed her back. "Yeah, sugar?"

She sighed and spoke quietly. "My mom and my dad met ages before I came along. My mom was the most beautifulest thing you ever saw. Daddy always used to say I was a spitting image of her, but with his eyes. I think she t-told him that she was a model. They were always the 'glam' couple. Him being a sportsman, her being the trophy wife. Their friends pressured them into getting married. They did, but they were always unhappy. They were both very hard-headed; my mom was the worse of the two though. It eventually got to the point where they couldn't even stand in the same room as each other. So, in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, they made me." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Daddy said it was the most proudest moment of his life when I was born. He kissed both my eyelids and told me that I was his princess, I was beautiful, I would do amazing things, and that no matter what, he'd always love me."

"Soon after, he had to leave, to go and fight in the war. When Daddy was gone, my mom was a totally different person. When he was around, she was a model mom, but as soon as he was gone, she was h-horrible. She refused to look at me, hold me, or even change my diapers. She hurt me, Randy." Gracie's voice softened even more. "I was three months old when she broke three of my ribs." Randy's eyes clenched his fists but didn't say anything. "My Daddy came back for about a week. She told everyone, including the doctors, that I had fallen off my cot. Daddy didn't really believe it, but he didn't dare question her authority. No-one did. So back he went, to the war."

"I didn't see him again until I was 2 and a half years old. In fact, that was the very first time I had seen him. I have no recollection of him before that. P-Previously, my mom always made sure that I was at her mom's place, my grandma's, when he came back, so that he wouldn't see the scars or bruises. But this time, she couldn't keep him from seeing me. She couldn't hide me for three months. Those three months were the best Randy, they really were. Daddy bought me whatever I wanted; barbies, lollies, build-a-bears, you name it. But the best part of it all was that my mom didn't touch me for those three months. At all. She completely ignored me. There were no smacks, no beatings, none of it for a whole three months."

Gracie's little bottom lip trembled. "But I guess, all good things come to an end. D-Daddy had to go back, back to the war. After he left, all my mom's abuse to me got worse. It was like all the anger she had been holding in for three months, was unleashed on me. There was all the stuff from before, like the beatings, but now she beat me with a walking stick, locked me in the spare cupboard, which was full of dust, which did no good for my asthma, and, if I was really naughty, she'd hit me with a hot frying pan." Randy looked at her, horrified. Gracie's eyes trailed down to her lap. "But I was a naughty girl, Randy. I deserved the punishment she gave me. I was a bad girl, and that was why Daddy went to war, to get away from me. That was what my mom told me. I was a bad girl. She said that, to get him back, I had to do everything she said. And so I did. I did do everything she said, Randy. I really did. I washed all her clothes and did the laundry without having to be asked, I washed all the dishes, I gave her her beer when she told me to get it, and I gave her her 'special powder', too. I did everything Randy." Gracie started to sob. "But she s-still beat me Randy. She still hurt me. E-Everyday. I tried Randy, I really did. I tried not to be a naughty girl, and I tried to get my Daddy back from the war. I really did. All I ever wanted was for my mommy to love me."

In that moment, Gracie's wall came crumbling down. The wall that she had built around herself to protect herself from being hurt again, was falling to bits. The wall that Randy had fought and fought to get through, was gone. Now he only hoped that she wouldn't start to build a new one. He held her in his arms while she cried, remembering the painful memories. He would address several things later.

After a few moments, she continued. "W-When I was about five years old, I started school, cos some lady that my mom knew made her take me there. It's where I learnt how to read, write and draw, and all that. O-One day I was standing in line at the cafeteria when someone called my name." A single happy tear rolled down her cheek. "'Gracie!', someone yelled. Everyone called me Abigail, sometimes Abby for short. But only one person called me 'Gracie'. It was D-Daddy. He was standing right at the back of the hall. I dropped my tray and sprinted to him. I jumped into his arms and hugged him. I started to cry, happy tears, cos I was so happy. He laughed and kissed my cheek and said, 'I love you, baby girl', and I said 'I love you too Daddy!'"

She suddenly recalled something. "H-Hey Randy?" He looked at her. _Yes?_ "D-Do you remember, that first day we met?" He nodded. "You came up to me and said hello, and you said something about drawing, and how you liked to draw too? I think you assumed that I looked up at you because you were talking to me about drawing. Randy, I looked up at you because you called me 'baby girl'. No-one had called me that since D-Daddy."

_Oh_.

"Anyway, once we were reunited, my teachers said we could go straight home. Apparently my mom didn't know that Daddy was coming home this time, it was a 'surprise' for both of us, so the house wasn't clean. We walked around the house for a little bit, and then we came to the stairs. There was blood going from the top step to the bottom. Daddy asked me who it belonged to. That blood was mine, from when my mom dragged me down the stairs and my legs were bleeding. And I broke down, Randy. I told him everything that my mom was doing to me. He was really angry, I was scared that h-he was gonna hurt me, but I didn't tell him that."

"When my mom got home that night, boy was she surprised that he was there. He told me to go and wait in my room, and he'd be up there later. I heard lots of shouting."

"About three hours later, Daddy came up to my room and told me to pack everything. He told me that I was gonna live somewhere else, with him, and that I'd never have to see my mom again. He took me away from her Randy, away from everything."

"For a while we rented an apartment, and we were struggling but we were happy. Then Daddy bought a big ranch, out of town. It was _huge_. We had everything; horses, cows, chicken, geese, dogs and I think that we had a snake at some point. I even had my own pony, her name was Gwen, and she was a buckskin." Ah, so that explained her instant drawing to Ronnie. "Daddy bought me a farm because I always used to say that I wanted to own one when I was older." Gracie smiled softly. "He always said that he'd do anything to make me happy, I didn't think he meant it literally. When I said Daddy took me away from everything, I meant it. He took me away from my mom. He took me away from the horrible. I didn't see her for a whole 8 months. Daddy made my life happy. Every night, he tucked me in, he kissed both my eyelids and told me that I was his princess, I was beautiful, I would do amazing things, and that no matter what, he'd always love me."

Another happy tear rolled down her cheek. "Daddy's ma and pa were long gone by the time I came around. So it was just me and him. And the housekeeper, Rosa. She was a really nice lady. And our next-door neighbour, Davie, but Daddy made me call him Uncle Davie. He wa- used to be, a really nice man."

The happiness faded from her face. "T-Then one day, the phone rang. It was the 'important people', as Daddy called them. A while later I realised that it was his boss that was calling him. Anyway, they told him that Daddy needed to go back, and train some other soldiers to be like him. They promised him that, at the most, he would only be gone three weeks. I really didn't want him to go, I only just got him back, but what much could a 6 year old do?"

Gracie shivered. "He refused, when he was gone, for my mom to come anywhere near me, so he arranged for Rosa to stay with me for three weeks. I remember that morning he went away, clear as day, probably cos it was my 6th birthday."

"He woke me up and gave me my guitar, which was wrapped in periwinkle blue paper. We walked around the ranch, just like we did every morning, to feed the animals. Then Rosa called us in and took us to the airport." Her voice lowered. "At the airport, when he was about to get on his flight, he knelt down in front of me, and said, I was his princess, I was beautiful, I would do amazing things, and that no matter what, he'd always love me. I giggled and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. I gave him one last big hug, he told me to be a good girl, and he walked through the gate."

"I never saw him again."

Gracie started to sob. And sob, and sob, and sob. Randy could feel himself on the verge of tears. The words that was coming out of the nine-year old's mouth were shaking him to his core. He held her and let her cry for a solid 10 minutes. He was about to tell her that she didn't have to continue, and that they could talk later, but she started talking again.

"I remember the phone call. Three days after he left, three days after my birthday, Rosa got the call. I was in the kitchen, helping her make vanilla cupcakes. She screamed and dropped the phone and started to cry. I became really scared, I had never seen her like that before. When she composed herself, she hung up the phone and turned to me."

"I remember her exact words. 'Grace, Gracie. I-I... y-your... your _papi _is dead.'. I didn't cry at all; I thought she was playing a really mean prank on me. When I realised she wasn't, I was p-paralysed. I was the definition of living dead. I felt so... empty. Lonely. The one good thing in my life had been taken away from me. I couldn't talk, I couldn't eat, drink or sleep. Sometimes it felt like I couldn't breathe. Rosa was the same. I was only 6, Randy."

"I didn't talk for weeks. I was numb." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Rosa took care of me. O-One day, she was talking to me. She said that she had been keeping something from me. I asked her what." Tears dripped down her face. "She said that she wasn't my legal guardian, and cos D-Daddy and my mom weren't officially divorced..."

"I had to go back to her."

If Randy's heart tore any more, he was sure that he would go into cardiac arrest. She swallowed. "She also made sure that I didn't get anywhere near the funeral. I had to go back to her, Randy. Back to the lion's den. Rosa could do nothing; I had to go back to my mom. After all Daddy had done for me, after everything he saved me from, I had to go back. Rosa was just the housekeeper, she could do nothing, nothing to stop my mother from taking me back."

"Rosa dropped me off at my mom's house, and she hugged me on the porch. She cried, and stroked my cheek. She told me to stay strong, and she'd visit me as often as she could. She said, '_Papi's _looking down on you from Heaven. I love you'. And she left."

_Gracie put her bags down on the door-step as she knocked on the door. A middle-aged European man with crystal-blue eyes, opened the door with a smile that made her uncomfortable. "Ah, you must be Gracie."_

_She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I prefer Abigail." Only her dad and Rosa were allowed call her Gracie._

"_Yes, yes, whatever you prefer." He waved his hand. "Now come in and see your mother. She's missed you."_

_Gracie fought the urge to roll her eyes, but her dad had taught her better than that. Instead she nodded, picked up her bags and walked past the weird man into the hallway. She stopped and turned around. Curiosity had gotten the better of her. "Who are you?"_

_He smiled again, this time showing off his stained, crooked teeth. "How silly of me. My name is Alex and I am... ah what do you call this..." He closed his eyes and thought. "a tenant of sorts... to your mother."_

_The six year old looked at him, confused. "What's a tenant..."_

"_Never your business, you little bitch." A female voice spoke from behind her. Gracie wheeled around and saw her estranged mother leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. "Don't leave your bags lying in the hallway like that. Go put them upstairs, and don't come down 'til I say so."_

_Gracie looked back at Alex, who was smirking and wiggling his eyebrows at her mother. Needless to say, Gracie had more knowledge about life than most her age. She knew what was going to happen downstairs while she was upstairs. Ewuh._

_So she did what her mother told her and she picked up her bag, making her way to the set of stairs. She looked back at the two adults. Her so-called mother was already walking over to Alex seductively. He was still smirking, motioning for the woman to join him in the living room. Double ewuh._

_Gracie made her way up the stairs with her bags, stopping at the top step to look back at the scene in the hall once more. Her mother had disappeared into the living room. Only the good Lord knew what she was doing in there right now. But Alex was still where he was. And instead of facing the living room where his pleasures laid awaiting, he was staring to the top of the stairs, where Gracie was. What scared her were the looks of lust he was giving the six year old._

_Even though Gracie was quite a distance away from him, she could still hear the two words Alex muttered before he looked away and headed into the living room._

"_You're next."_

Gracie snapped out of her flashback. Her hazel green eyes were filled with emptiness, and her jaw was quivering. "T-That night..."

Randy knew what she was about to say. Half of him didn't want to hear it, yet the other half did. She closed her eyes and whispered. "He came into my room and pulled down my pants... and he touched me there... and pushed his willy into me, and in my mouth. I was vomiting, but A-Alex didn't care. He shoved a beer bottle down my throat and told me to shut the fuck up."

She trembled with fear. "If that wasn't enough, every morning I got up, my mom still hurt me. Everyday she hurt me. Every night, Alex hurt me. It was an endless cycle of pain. Sometimes Alex brought his friends to play their games with me, and sometimes they had cameras. They took pictures of me while they were doing stuff to me. Sometimes his friends took me to their places. Some of them were h-horrible people, and some of them were really nice, giving me lollies and chocolates afterwords. I was depressed. Severely depressed, Randy. I tried to kill myself twice."

"After eight months of this, of my horrible time, I was reading a book in my room, when Alex shouted for me to come downstairs. I thought it was one of his friends, ready to play their games with me. I couldn't believe who it was." Her eyes were still shut. "It was Uncle Davie. I threw my arms around him, but I didn't smile. My mom and Alex hated it when I smiled. They hated it even more when I laughed. So I stopped doing both. He smiled and said we were going to have a day out together. He said to get my guitar and we'd head off. He gave Alex some money and they shook hands. He took me back to his place, which was still right next to D-Daddy's ranch. I couldn't bare to look at the place. I hadn't been there since Rosa was packing up my things."

"We went back to his place, and we started to play guitar together. He started to drink, and get drunk, but we still played guitar. I reached out to the table for my water, but I knocked it out of my hands and broke the glass. He started to get really angry at me... and hit me..." Her eyes finally flickered open. "I don't want to go into the details, Randy. It's too painful. It's the worst beating I've ever received. I'd take getting hit by a hot frying pan a thousand times, than have to go through Uncle Davie's beating again. Afterwords, he started to play games with me. It hurt even more because while he was playing his games, he was still beating me. He choked me with his t-shirt until I was unconscious."

The nine-year old bit her lip. "Apparently, I was dropped off by him and left on the hospital steps, for dead, with my guitar, and a photo. That photo was the one with me and D-Daddy at the beach. Uncle Davie had taken it. Mr. Franklin told me later that I had six broken ribs, a punctured kidney, a punctured lung, a broken arm, and only God knows how many stitches."

"From there, I was placed at Safe Haven, and for two years I was lonely. Sure, they gave me counseling, but it did no good. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't smile and I didn't laugh. And then you came, Randy. Now I'm rambling on and on, like I used to do with Daddy." Her tired eyes looked up towards the blue-ish sky, searching. "There's not a day I don't think about him Randy. I miss him so much."

She focused on Randy and stroked his cheek. He squeezed her. "Thank-you Randy, for everything. But don't leave me like Daddy did. Don't leave me like Rosa did. Don't leave me like all those couples that wanted to adopt me did."

Gracie's eyes shut and her breathing steadied. The poor girl had cried herself to sleep.

Randy kissed her eyelids. "Gracie, you are my princess, you are beautiful, you will do amazing things, no matter what, I'll always love you, and I will never, ever leave you."

**Review. Please?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Randy sighed at the little girl in his arms. To be honest, he was in a state of shock. Shock from what he had just heard, shock at what he was imagining right now. A combination of anger and bile rose in his throat.

He carefully cradled her and stood up. Gracie began to whimper in her sleep and her hold on Randy tightened noticeably. He made sure she was comfortable before he started to walk back into the house.

John was in the kitchen, sipping a coffee quietly, deep in thought. When father and daughter walked into the room, John's eyes immediately cast over to the sleeping figure in Randy's arms. Randy shook his head, unable to explain and comprehend what he's just heard. John looked at the other man's somber expression. He stood up and quickly kissed Gracie's temple.

"I'll tell you everything later," Randy murmured. "or maybe tomorrow. I don't know."

John nodded and gave the nine year old one last glance, before heading into the guest bedroom to check his emails.

Randy carefully made his way up to her bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him. When he tried to place her on the bed, the girl whined. After everything she'd just said, she still did not want to be separated from Randy, even in her sleep. Instead he walked over to the rocking chair in the corner, knowing that she'd have nightmares, and held her tightly as the first cries began to erupt from her little mouth.

He thought about her life as she began to scream. Everything was starting to click together, except for the plainly obvious question; what had happened to her Dad? Surely he was buried somewhere. Surely someone knew something about what had led to the young solidier's demise. If and when Randy tracked down where his final resting place was, he would make sure that he and Gracie would be on the first plane there to pay their final respects. Gracie needed to see his grave for some much-needed closure; Randy, to thank the man who had loved and taken care of his daughter before he did.

He had never laid a finger on her. He had protected and taken her away from the biggest danger in her life. Her own mother. The thought made Randy disgusted. Sick to the stomach. How could someone hurt a child, their _own _child, for that matter. No wonder child abusers got treated the worst whilst in prison. You have to be pretty fucked in the head to hurt a kid.

Randy tried to recall every word that had come out of Gracie's mouth. It seemed that her life was disappointment after disappointment. Her mom had beaten her from pretty much the day she was born, her Dad came and left, mom beat her even worse, Dad comes and saves her, Dad dies... and well, we all know what happened after that.

He also realised the importance of that guitar of hers. It was one of the only physical memories she had of her father. At the same time, the guitar also represented the extremely dark side of her life. To Randy, someone who beat, raped and left a little girl for dead with nothing but a photo and a guitar on some hospital steps, was a lowlife who did not deserve the title of human being. Just sayin'.

"Come back Daddy..." Gracie mumbled in her slumber. Small tears rolled down her cheeks. "P-please..."

Randy began to talk to her, comforting her, regardless of whether she could hear him or not. He didn't really care. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry for everything that you went through. I'm sorry that your Daddy can't come back. But you're a very lucky girl. You know why? Because you have two Daddys. One is in Heaven, looking down on his own little angel named Gracie. The other, well, you're lying in his arms. Don't ever think you're unlovable, baby girl. I love you and Pumba loves you. Once the rest of the locker room meet you, they'll all fall in love with you like we did. Don't ever think you're alone. You'll never have to walk alone again. Someone will always be there, right beside you. No-one will ever leave you again. Ever."

…

Alex walked into the house, placing his keys in the ash tray. He breathed in the heavy scent of alcohol and cigarettes, and smiled to himself. He made his way over to the mustard green lounge in the family room, plopped on it and took out a smoke from his pocket.

What a day today had been. For the first time in almost four years, he had seen the little runt he had for a 'step-daughter'.

Abigail Grace Ordenes.

She was almost going on ten now, and how beautiful she'd become. Those piercing green eyes caught him off guard every single damn time. They were even more stunning when they were filled with pain and fear. Alex smiled, content with himself, knowing that he was the one that had caused that pain.

His smirk began to fade as his memory started to clear up. There were two men with her today, two _huge _men, might he add. The little runt had even called one of them 'Daddy'. He thought about all the times he had beaten her within an inch of her life because she refused to call him that, and frowned.

The last time he had seen her was the day that he sold her to Davie. Dave paid him a tidy $940 for the girl. Alex didn't quite understand why Dave had wanted Abigail so badly, but hey, he was $940 extra in pocket, and all he had to give up was that piss-weak piece of nothing.

He inhaled the comforting smell of smoke. He often wondered what had happened to her these past few years. Not that he actually cared, but wondering if his $940 had really been worth it.

"Alex. You're home." A lustful voice came from the hall.

He lifted his head lazily. The mother of the girl in his thoughts was approaching him. "Yes, Jean. I'm home."

She smirked seductively and placed herself in his lap in a provocative position, and started kissing his fat greasy neck.

Jean, like her daughter, had also changed a lot in appearance the past few years. She was no longer the gorgeous, slim blonde that she once was. Age had caught up with her dramatically. Now that she was chubbier and ugly, she pretty much meant nothing to him. The only real reason that he stayed with her was because she gave great sex.

"Oh Jean..." he moaned, as her hands made their way down his fat body. "Stop, stop. I have news for you."

She continued on her sexual rampage. "Mmm..?"

Alex sighed. "I saw your daughter today."

Her head snapped up. "What?"

He smirked. "I saw your Gracie today at breakfast when I was downtown."

Jean made a face of disgust, she hated anything that reminded her of her ex-husband. Piece of dirt. "Was she homeless and dying and begging for her wonderful mother? I hope so."

Alex looked at her. "No, actually. She was with two men who she appeared to trust."

The woman frowned disapprovingly. "Did you recognise them from anywhere?"

He chewed his lip in thought. "They look very, very... ah... familiar, would you call it. No names come to mind though."

Jean opened her mouth to protest but Alex cut her off. "But, I think that they were celebrities. People were giving them looks of excitement."

The woman in his lap raised an eyebrow. "Well... what did they look like?"

Alex shook his head, unable to describe Randy and John's looks. Jean rolled her eyes, and slapped him for good measure. She stood up, brushed off some imaginary dirt and shuffled into the kitchen.

Alex took another long drag of his smoke, like nothing had just happened. He called for Jean to get him a cold beer so they could watch a movie or something. They wanted to simply forget about the unwanted daughter.

Jean walked into the 'family' room, smoking her own drag and sipping her own beer. She sat on the other couch. Alex scoffed. "I thought I asked you to get a beer for me?"

The woman flicked the old TV set on and stared. "I'm not your bitch. Get it yourself."

"Screw it." Alex rolled his eyes.

Jean lazily searched through the channels. 'WWE Raw' constantly appeared in the list. Alex frowned, trying to remember and connect the dots. "Jean... turn it to WWE."

"But I thought you hated-"

Alex snapped. "Shut up. Just do it."

Darkness washed over her muddy brown eyes as she did as she was told. The TV switched to Raw. Alex stared at the screen, scrutinising and concentrating on the image in front of him. Two men were fighting in the middle of the ring. Typical. The man with knee-length denim shorts and bright orange wrist bands pinned the other man, and the ref raised his arm. There was an annoying voice in the background, presumably the commentator.

"_He's done it! John Cena's done it! He's beaten Chris Jericho!"_

Alex's ice-cold eyes blinked furiously, trying as hard as he could to remember, to connect a name and face.

Jean snorted from her position on the other couch. "Look you're not even watching it. Maybe I'll..."

He ignored her voice and turned his attention back to the TV. The camera zoomed up in on the winner's face, highlighting his strong jaw and unmistakable blue eyes. Then it clicked.

Alex dropped his cigarette. The ashes slowly fell on his clothing. "That's him! That's him! That's one of the men that was with your daughter! Your Gracie. That's him! John Cena!"

Jean looked at him incredulously. "Bullshit."

He frowned. "Oh yeah? I'll prove it to you. That man knows your daughter!"

She stared at him skeptically. "Whatever."

Alex turned away, knowing that she would continue arguing with him until she got her way. His attention was brought back to the unwanted daughter. If he could somehow track down this John Cena, then surely that would lead him to the little girl he had caught a glimpse of earlier today.

He smiled to himself. Gracie Ordenes had not seen the last of him just yet.

**My lovelies, I received 17 WONDERFUL reviews for last chapter! I can't believe my writing actually brought some of you to tears :) I mean, all I do is write stuff...  
It touched me, it really did :') Keep reviewing!**

**You guys were fantastic. By inboxing me to tell me that you cared, that this bad time would get better, I don't know... it made my day a little brighter. So thank-you. So much.  
(Extra-super-mega-ultra special thanks to StraightLife116.)  
And sorry. Sorry about the long wait. I had exams (which was not the reason I took a break). I had to hardcore Asian study for three weeks. So if you know of someone with Asian ethnicity, give them a pat on the back for me and congratulate them for putting up with parents who, chances are, obsessed with them becoming a doctor or lawyer.**

**We will soon be seeing the arrival of several new characters, appearances of old ones, and the growing importance of an unsuspecting one ;)  
Adios my amigos, and keep smiling through it all.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen.**

"Hey Pumba, did you know that the man who invented the toilet was named Thomas Crapper?"

Even though he did, John humored her. "Nope."

Gracie's eyes trailed downwards, lost in thought. "You knew that, I know you did. But I bet you didn't know that he was the nephew of Queen Elizabeth 1st and that Mr. Crapper gave her the first ever toilet which was made out of gold."

Well that he didn't know. "How do you know that?"

She shrugged and licked her ice-cream. "I had a lot of time."

It had been three months since 'revelation' day, and the day that Alex had found her. Two days after that, John took Gracie to Tampa with him for fear that Alex might somehow hunt her down and hurt her again, while Randy stayed in St. Louis. The perverted bastard hadn't been seen nor heard of since that day.

That was about a month ago. Gracie was back in St. Louis with Randy and even though John had gone back on the road, he was visiting her today. Pu-John and the nine year old were now on their way back to the Orton household after an afternoon visit to the ice-cream parlour.

Gracie's personality had been a roller-coaster since the 'revelation' (Randy liked to call it that). Some days she was jumpy and scared and didn't say anything for the whole day, while other days she seemed to forget her past was was bubbly like every nine year old should be. Expect for the laughter. Despite John and Randy's efforts, Gracie Ordenes-Orton was still laughless.

Today was one of the latter days. Not too smiley, but talkative none the less. Her two carers were still on that mission to make that small giggle erupt from her mouth, and John was still one in believing that food could fix everything. Hence the trip to BruSter's

As soon as the front door opened, Gracie made a break for her room, mint choc chip dripping down her hands, before Randy could quiz her on her day. John (after checking the fridge), headed towards the study, where Randy most likely was. He spent most of his hours these days either on the computer or on the phone, inquiring about what had happened to his daughter's other father.

He could faintly hear a voice coming from the office. Even though John was a hallway and a half away, he could hear the disappointment in Randy's tone.

"Yep... yep. Alright. Thanks anyway. You too. Thanks. Bye."

John leaned in the door frame, nibbling at his sandwitch. "No luck?"

"Nope. Seriously, how could someone die, have a funeral, and their body just disappear?"

Some lettuce fell on the floor. John didn't see it. In between mouthfuls of food, he spoke. "Well think about it laterally or something. What if his funeral wasn't even held in the States? What if he isn't even dead? What if he's faked his own death because he's secretly-"

"Stop eating that baloney, John. It's making you delusional."

John smirked and rolled his eyes. "Just offering suggestions, dude."

Randy placed the phone back in it's cradle and pushed the computer chair in. He started to walk towards the kitchen to put away an empty plate, before turning back to John. "No seriously, stop eating that baloney. It's out of date."

"By how much?"

"Oh, about a month. Or three."

Unbeknownst to them, Gracie was sitting at the top of the stairs, listening to the whole conversation. She had known about Randy's quest to find her dad. She sighed, hearing that he was going nowhere with it. And besides, what could Randy possibly do once he found Daddy? Bring him back to life? Take her back to her happy time? Even a wrestler like him couldn't do something like that. It was pretty pointless. Before either man could catch her eavesdropping, she scooted back to her room and shut the door quietly.

When she was younger and thinking about Daddy like this, she used to curl up in a ball and rock, completely shutting herself off from the outside world. Now that she was free of her mother's terror, Gracie now found comfort in playing her guitar and softly singing to herself.

She scurried to her bed and lifted the mattress up slightly, looking for what she'd placed there. She eventually found the sheets of music and pulled them out. Slightly crumpled, but otherwise in pretty good condition. Gracie chewed on her lip, contemplating. She placed herself on her bed and sat cross-legged. Her eyes scanned the sheet, reading the notes. And slowly, the lyrics started to escape from her mouth.

Randy was just passing the stairs when he heard ...singing? That voice was way too high-pitched to be John's and the sound was far too clear to be coming from the TV. Realizing who it belonged to, he quickly put the plate in the kitchen sink and bounded up the stairs, two at a time. He silently pressed his right hear against her door and listened.

_But he's far far away  
And I'd do anything just to see his face  
But he's far far away  
Walk a thousand miles just to see his smile again_

He smiled as he heard Gracie sing for the first time. She wasn't exactly Jackie Evancho (even tone-deaf Randy could tell she botched a few notes), but the overwhelming emotion that came through in her voice was amazing. It was as if she was an old soul, and to an extent she was, and was singing her blues away with a saxophone man by her side, in the back of a cheap bar. He didn't think it was necessary to ask who she was singing about, either.

Then a light bulb went off on top of his head. Randy almost ran back down the stairs to his mobile and the phone book. He dialed the number he wanted and impatiently tapped his fingers.

Someone answered. There was a baby's voice in the background. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Randy. I need to ask a big favour of you..."

The person on the other side hesitated. "Um, yeah, sure. What's up?"

…

"Randy where are we going?"

A short while after she'd ran off to her room (and not long after he'd left her door after listening to her sing), he'd knocked on her door, telling her to bring her guitar and that they were meeting someone very special. Other than that he'd given nothing away.

He parked the car in a high school car park, which was empty apart from a small, dark green Golf. Randy turned to her with a little smile plastered on his face, and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes. "We're going inside one of the classrooms to see an old friend of mine."

She changed her approach. "Okay then... who are we seeing?"

Randy smiled again, and opened the car door. "C'mon, get your guitar."

Gracie frowned but got out anyway. Just as she was shutting the car boot, a very pretty woman jogged down the stairs to the front of the school. She had huge trusting brown eyes and extremely curly caramel hair. She had a huge warm smile on her face and Gracie immediately knew that she was going to like this woman.

Randy left his position next to the car door and met the lady halfway down the stairs. She almost jumped in his arms (but she didn't), and in return they snaked around her slim waist, holding her to him. Gracie remained at the car boot, staring at them awkwardly. He mumbled something in the lady's ear, and she giggled, placing a quick kiss on his cheek. A pang on jealousy rose in the nine year old's stomach. That was _her _Randy.

She cumbersomely carried her guitar towards the embraced couple. It was the lady that saw he first, breaking the hug, and sent the girl a smile that most women only dreamed about.

"Hi Gracie." said the woman sweetly, and stuck out her hand. Gracie glanced up at Randy, who nodded. She very slowly placed her hand in the woman's. It was warm and soft. "My name's Simone Costello. It's great to meet you."

Gracie felt her heart swell when Simone said her name. She didn't know why. The lady just seemed so... joyful. "I-It's nice to meet you too." She mumbled.

The adults grinned. Simone ushered them into the building, unawaringly placing her hand on the small of Randy's back. He mightn't've noticed, but his daughter did. Gracie gripped her guitar tightly as they walked through some halls. "Okay, in here."

The three of them walked into a music classroom. She looked up at Randy. "Why am I here with my guitar?"

He pulled her to his side and her stroked her thin golden hair. "...I heard you singing in your room today, baby."

Gracie stiffened and her eyes bulged. "What?"

Simone leaned down and gave her that Miss America smile. "That's why I'm here, chicka. Randy rang me this afternoon and told me about his beautiful daughter and what a wonderful voice you had. See, I'm a guitar and vocalist teacher. He wanted to see if I could teach you more about both." Simone grabbed Gracie's hand and squeezed in gently. "But I know that you're very shy. I remember that when I was your age, I was shy as well. I would not sing until I was sure that absolutely no-one would hear me."

"Really?" Gracie doubted that. How could anyone that happy and pretty be shy?

Simone smiled. "Yep. So for you to sing for me, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

She swallowed. She seemed nice enough. "Yeah."

Randy watched the interaction between the two. He knew Simone would match up perfectly with Gracie. Sim had the mothering instincts coming in truckloads and Gracie was missing a positive female role model in her life. The fact that they both sang and played guitar was just an added bonus.

Simone suddenly pulled Gracie into a hug. It was one of the best hugs she'd ever been given, second-best to Randy's of course. Simone was warm and happy and she smelt nice. Gracie wanted to stay in her arms forever.

Simone was whispering in her ear. "Now sing, chicka."

Gracie felt tears begin to pool in her eyes. Why was Simone treating her better in the 20 minutes that she'd met her, than her mother had her whole life? It wasn't fair. Her lips trembled as she repeated the song that she'd sang before.

_But he's far far away  
And I'd do anything just to see his face  
But he's far far away  
Walk a thousand miles just to see his smile again_

"Oh baby... you're hurting so much aren't you?" Simone held Gracie out at an arms length brushed some stray tears from the girl's cheeks. "Stop crying, chicka. You're too beautiful to cry. Don't ruin that pretty voice with your sobs."

Simone stood up and Gracie immediately turned towards Randy who picked her up and held her to his chest. "She's got a beautiful, pure voice. It's so emotionally driven... it's just wow."

Randy beamed, proud of his daughter. "That's my girl." He kissed her temple. "Anyway, I think I better get her home. Dinnertime soon."

Simone nodded understandingly. "I gotta go and pick up AshLynn from my mom's house, anyway. Hey Gracie?" The nine year old turned towards her. "We start vocal and guitar lessons next week, alright?" She nodded. "It's a shame we didn't get to hear you play that guitar of yours. I bet you're really good at that, aren't you?"

Gracie smiled shyly and shrugged. Randy and Simone chuckled. Sim kissed the head of her thumb and pressed it on Gracie's lips. "Don't break before then, okay?"

She nodded defiantly. "I won't break."

"That's my chicka. Now I really have to go..." Simone rushed to get her bag from the corner of the room. She kissed Randy on the cheek goodbye, and father and daughter watched her rush out the classroom door to her car.

Gracie watched as the older woman walked out of the room. She sighed sadly and rested her head on Randy's collarbone. Why couldn't Simone have been her mother?

**YAY I UPDATED THIS STORY :D How long has it been? 2 months? Anyway, I did, so party at my house. Free pizzas (only if you know where I live!). :)  
**

**Hmm... did anyone figure out the hint I gave about Gracie's dad? It was about the lettuce, right at the start of this chapter... if your smart you might work it out! (:  
How do you guys think Simone and Randy know each other? Anyone else see Ooh La La? And who's AshLynn?  
The song I used in this chapter is: Far Away – Tyga ft. Chris Richardson (GO GO GO watch the video clip... you'll see why it's relevant to this story! [sort of])**

**Thank you all for reading (and hopefully reviewing!), and adios until we meet again!  
And remember, keep smiling through it all.**

**REVIEEEW and I'll FEDEX you all some cookies !  
**


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